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LATEST NEWS OF DECEMBER 2011 |
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IRAN ANNOUNCES LONG-RANGE MISSILE TEST
IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
TEHRAN, IRAN--"On
Saturday morning the Iranian navy will
test several of its long-range missiles
in the Persian Gulf," navy deputy
commander Admiral Mahmoud Moussavi told
Fars news agency. The testing of the
missiles is part of ongoing navy
maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and,
according to Moussavi, the main and
final phase is preparing the navy for
confronting the enemy in a warlike
situation. The maneuver has been
overshadowed by a verbal row between
Iran and the US over an Iranian threat
to close the Strait of Hormuz in the
Persian Gulf, through which 40 per cent
of the world's ship-borne crude is
passed.
  The spark for the row was a Tuesday remark by Iranian Vice
President Mohammd-Reza Rahimi that, "if
Western countries sanctioned Iranian
oil, then Iran would not allow one drop
of oil to cross the Strait of Hormuz."
Following his remarks, Iranian navy
commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari
said, although there was currently no
necessity for Iran to close the strait,
"it would be as easy as drinking a glass
of water." After the U.S. Navy said it
would not accept any Iranian disruption
of the free flow of goods through Hormuz,
Iran continued the war of words with
Revolutionary Guard deputy chief Hossein
Salami saying that the U.S. was in no
position to tell Iran what to do.
Salami also called the U.S. "an iceberg which is to be melted
by the high degree of the Iranian
revolution," and "a sparrow in the body
of a dinosaur." Neither President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nor the ministries
of defense and foreign affairs have so
far commented on the issue. The only
official comments on the matter came
last week, before the exchange of words,
from Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin
Mehmanparast, who said that closing the
Hormuz has never been on Iran's agenda.
However, he added: "if the region would
face a warlike situation, then
everything would then become warlike."
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CHIEF ARAB LEAGUE OBSERVER IN SYRIA HAS
HIS OWN QUESTIONABLE HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
DAMASCUS,
SYRIA--A
team of Arab League observers arrived in
Syria earlier this week, creating
hopes of a letup in the government’s
brutal crackdown on protesters. But the
monitors themselves are now facing
scrutiny due to the questionable
selection of the official heading the
team. Foreign Policy reports the
mission’s leader is a “Sudanese general
accused of creating the fearsome ‘janjaweed,’
which was responsible for the worst
atrocities during the Darfur genocide.”
The magazine reports Sudanese Gen.
Mohammad Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi:
  Mustafa al-Dabi may be the unlikeliest leader of
a humanitarian mission the world has
ever seen. He is a staunch loyalist of
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is
wanted by the International Criminal
Court for genocide and crimes against
humanity for his government’s policies
in Darfur. And Dabi’s own record in the
restive Sudanese region, where he stands
accused of presiding over the creation
of the feared Arab militias known as the
“janjaweed,” is enough to make any human
rights activist blanch.
Human rights groups are criticizing the general’s
appointment. Amnesty International says
it raises questions about the mission’s
credibility: “The Arab League‘s decision
to appoint as the head of the observer
mission a Sudanese general on whose
watch severe human rights violations
were committed in Sudan risks
undermining the League’s efforts so far
and seriously calls into question the
mission’s credibility,” it said in a
statement. Adding to the concerns is
General Dabi’s initial assessment of the
situation on the ground in Syria. On his
first visit to Homs – site of fierce
clashes and much bloodshed – Dabi said
he had seen “nothing frightening.”
Later, he said he needed more time to
assess the city: |
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VENEZUELAN OIL SALES TO THE US CONTINUES
TO DECLINE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --Preliminary
statistics from the US Department of
Energy show that during the fourth
quarter of 2011, sales of
Venezuelan crude oil averaged some
793,000 barrels per day, around 9% down
compared to the same period of 2010,
when oil shipments averaged 875,000
barrels of oil per day. Figures on
Venezuelan monthly oil shipments to the
US this year show that the volume
delivered in October was 916,000 bpd,
while in November and December (up to
the fourth week), there was a
significant drop to 748,000 and 715,000
barrels per day, respectively. In
contrast, during October 2010 shipments
averaged 883,000 barrels, while in
November and December last year they
averaged 910,000 and 835,000 barrels per
day, approximately.
  A week to the end of year 2011, preliminary figures
from the US Department of Energy suggest
that this year Venezuela dispatched an
average of 866,000 barrels of crude oil
to the US. This figure is significantly
lower than the average of 987,000
barrels shipped during 2010, according
to US consolidated data. The United
States remains the main buyer of
Venezuelan oil. However, Caracas' trade
and political alliances with China and
other countries in Asia have resulted in
Venezuela turning to other markets
rather than the US. Pdvsa reported in
mid-2011 that in 2010 the United States'
imports of Venezuelan crude oil and
petroleum products averaged some 1.24
million barrels a day. This represents
about 52% of Venezuelan exports,
estimated at 2.41 million barrels per
day. Venezuelan shipments of crude oil
to the United States in fiscal year 2010
were the lowest in the last 21 years.
While the volume shipped to North America shrinks, oil
sales to countries such as China and
India are consistently growing. In this
regard, Pdvsa sent more than 380,000
barrels of crude and byproducts to those
two countries during 2010. Coupled with
this, there are Venezuela's oil
deliveries to China under the Chinese
Fund. Since 2007, Pdvsa started to ship
100,000 barrels per day. After China
expanded its financing to the Venezuelan
government, shipments jumped to 230,000
barrels per day to Beijing. Later, also
in 2010, oil volumes under the Chinese
Fund were expanded to 430,000, which
Pdvsa must deliver as payment to the
China Development Bank on behalf of
Venezuela. The latest monthly report
from the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows that
Canada remains the largest supplier of
crude oil to the US, with 2.32 million
barrels a day. Canada is followed by
Saudi Arabia, with 1.47 million barrels
a day; Mexico, with 1.1 million barrels
per day; Venezuela, with 760,000 bpd;
and Nigeria, with 530,000 barrels per
day. |
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US SENDS AIRCRAFT CARRIER INTO THE
STRAIT OF HORMUZ
TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran
has announced it located a U.S. aircraft
carrier moving into the Strait of Hormuz
during Iranian wargame exercises.
The AFP reports Commodore Mahmoud
Mousavi, spokesman for the exercises,
says the carrier was spotted by an
Iranian reconnaissance plane that took
photos and video. A spokesperson for the
U.S. Fifth Fleet confirmed the carrier
is the USS John C. Stennis, a nearly
1,100 foot nuclear powered craft with
unlimited range and 3 million gallons of
onboard fuel.
 
In addition to its planes and the ships
that sail in the group, the Stennis is
armed with NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow and
Rolling Air Missile (RAM) surface-to-air
missile systems, the Phalanx Close-in
Weapons System for cruise missile
defense, and the AN/SLQ-32 Electronic
Warfare System. U.S. officials said
Wednesday that the Stennis and the
guided missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay
slipped into the strait Tuesday after a
stop at Dubai's Jebel Ali port. The USS
Mobile bay is a 570 foot Ticonderoga
class cruiser that carries the Tomahawk
Land Attack Missile, two Seahawk LAMPS
multi-purpose helicopters, and is used
for anti-submarine warfare, anti-air,
and anti-surface warfare.
The Associated Press reports Iran is playing up the
sighting of the carrier and boasting of
the strength of its navy in the region.
Iranian naval chief Adm. Habibollah
Sayyari says Iran has "control over the
moves by foreign forces" and that the
"foreign fleet will be warned by Iranian
forces if it enters the area of the
drill." Iranian state TV showed the
supposed video but details of the
carrier couldn't be made out because it
was shot from so far away. |
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WASHINGTON REJECTS DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S
"HORRIFIC" INSINUATIONS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
--
The United States on Thursday rejected
the insinuations of Venezuelan DICTATOR
Hugo Chávez that Washington
could be responsible for a string of
cases of cancer among Latin American
presidents. State Department Spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland described Chavez's
remarks as "horrific" and added that
they were not worth commenting.
 
Chávez has repeatedly said that
Washington is behind a plot to overthrow
him, but in recent statements he went
far beyond in his suspicions of
conspiracy. He termed weird the fact
that several leaders of the region have
recently suffered health problems
related to cancer and suggested that
this could have unnatural causes.
Chávez said he is not accusing Washington and that he has no
evidence, but wondered: "Would it be
surprising that they (the United Stated)
have developed a technology to induce
cancer and that it is known only 50
years later?" He said: "Based on the law
of probabilities, it is very difficult
to explain what has been happening to
some of us (leaders) in Latin America."
The Latin American presidents affected
by cancer are Chávez of Venezuela,
Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Cristina
Fernández of Argentina and former
Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da
Silva. |
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IRANIAN PRESIDENT TO GO ON TOUR OF LATIN
AMERICAN NEXT MONTH
TEHRAN,
IRAN--Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is
scheduled to start a four-nation tour of
Latin America in the second week of
January 2012. Ahmadinejad is due to
visit Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and
Ecuador on the trip, Director of the
International Affairs Department of the
Presidential Office Mohammad Reza
Forghani said. "Mr. Ahmadinejad will
first go to Caracas to visit (Venezuelan
President) Hugo Chavez," Forghani said,
confirming an announcement made Tuesday
by Chavez. "He will then go to the
swearing-in ceremonies for Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega, who has been
re-elected," he said.
 
Ahmadinejad will then travel to Cuba and
to Ecuador, where he will hold talks
with the respective leaders. Iran has
been seeking to boost its ties with
Latin American countries in recent
years, to the concern of the United
States. Since taking office in 2005,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has expanded Iran's cooperation with
many Latin American states, including
Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and
Brazil.
But, Iran has grown specially expansive ties with Venezuela,
and now the two countries are considered
allies in many fields and in all
international bodies, specially within
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) which controls the
world's oil lifeline. The strong and
rapidly growing ties between Iran and
Venezuela have raised eyebrows in the US
and its western allies since Tehran and
Caracas have forged an alliance against
the imperialist and colonialist powers
and are striving hard to reinvigorate
their relations with the other
independent countries which pursue a
line of policy independent from the US.
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ARGENTINA'S PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ
HAS CANCER IN HER THYROID GLAND
BUENOS
AIRES, ARGENTINA --
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez
de Kirchner has been diagnosed
with thyroid cancer, though tests show
the tumor is contained and has shown no
sign of spreading. Fernandez will
undergo surgery Jan. 4 and take a 20-day
leave of absence while she recovers,
government spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro
told reporters in Buenos Aires last
night. Vice President Amado Boudou will
run South America’s second- biggest
economy during that period. The cancer,
first detected during a routine checkup,
is isolated to a lobe in the right side
of her neck, Scoccimarro said. While
Fernandez’s diagnosis came as a shock to
her 43 million compatriots, her health
problems are unlikely to affect the
government unless they are shown to be
worse than is currently believed, said
the Eurasia Group, a New York-based
political risk group.
 
Fernandez, 58, publicly mourned the
heart attack death of her husband and
predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, on her way
to re- election Oct. 23. Her own health
came into question this year after she
canceled trips abroad and daily
activities three times following bouts
of low blood pressure. Thyroid cancer
is highly survivable, with more than 95
percent of patients living at least 10
years after detection, according to the
U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Treatment typically involves removal of
the thyroid, a gland located at the back
of the neck that regulates the heart
rate and hormones, followed by
radioactive iodide treatments, taken
orally.
“It’s a simple surgery,” said Guillermo Temperley, director
of the Hospital Municipal de Oncologia
Marie Curie in Buenos Aires in an
interview yesterday with Canal 26
television. “If you remove the gland or
the lobe and she’s under control, the
president can live many years and die
from something else, but not from
this.” Fernandez’s condition isn’t
expected to affect financial markets, as
the cabinet that took office with her
this month remains united and
Argentina’s economy will continue
growing next year amid a global slump,
said Leonardo Bazzi, head of research at
Buenos Aires brokerage Puente Hermanos
SA. Fernandez was re-elected by a
landslide after overseeing an economic
expansion that averaged an annual 5.6
percent during her first four-year term.
In that time she used record revenue
from booming soybean exports to boost
spending on public works, pensions and
cash handouts to poor families.
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VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
SPECULATES THAT us INFECTED LATIN
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS WITH CANCER
caracas,
venezuela--Venezuelan
dictator Hugo Chavez speculated
on Wednesday that the United States
might have developed a way to give Latin
American leaders cancer, after
Argentina's Cristina Fernandez joined
the list of presidents diagnosed with
the disease. It was a typically
controversial statement by Venezuela's
socialist leader, who underwent surgery
in June to remove a tumor from his
pelvis. But he stressed that he was not
making any accusations, just thinking
aloud. "It would not be strange if they
had developed the technology to induce
cancer and nobody knew about it until
now ... I don't know. I'm just
reflecting," he said in a televised
speech to troops at a military base.
"But this is very, very, very strange
... it's a bit difficult to explain
this, to reason it, including using the
law of probabilities."
 
Chavez, Fernandez, Paraguay's Fernando
Lugo, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and former
Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva have all been diagnosed recently
with cancer. All of them are leftists.
Doctors say Fernandez has a very good
chance of recovery and will not need
chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Her
diagnosis was made public on Tuesday.
Chavez said other regional leaders
should beware, including his close ally,
Bolivian President Evo Morales. "We'll
have to take good care of Evo. Take care
Evo!" he said.
 
The 57-year-old is Latin America's
loudest critic of U.S. foreign policy
along with Cuba's former leader Fidel
Castro, and he frequently lashes out at
what he calls the "Yankee Empire".
"Fidel always told me, 'Chavez take
care. These people have developed
technology. You are very careless. Take
care what you eat, what they give you to
eat ... a little needle and they inject
you with I don't know what,'" he said.
Details about Chavez's health remain a
closely guarded secret, although he now
appears to be recovering and is making
longer and longer televised appearances.
Earlier this month he made his first
official foreign trip after his surgery,
to a regional summit in Uruguay. Since
his return he has often appeared
sporting something of a younger, new
look: a dark sports coat over an
open-necked maroon shirt, and is hair is
growing back after chemotherapy. It is
far cry from the green fatigues and red
beret that he became famous for wearing
for much of his 13 years in power. |
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detention of judge maria lourdes afiuni
raises concern at the united nations
united
nations, new york--The
decision to extend the detention of the
suspended 31st Control Judge of Caracas
María Lourdes Afiuni Mora has
caused concern at the United Nations.
Therefore, three UN rapporteurs have
rejected the move and demanded Afiuni's
release.
 
"We are very concerned about the
extension of the preventive remand in
custody against Judge Afiuni Mora," they
said in a joint statement issued by the
Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan
Méndez; the president-rapporteur of the
Group on Arbitrary Detention, Hadji
Malick Sow; and the Special Rapporteur
on the independence of judges and
lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, as quoted by
Efe. "It is unbelievable how the
arbitrary detention of Judge Afiuni Mora
has been further extended, and her
immediate released is imperative," said
Malick.
For her part, Knaul said that this resolution, adopted
last December 13 by the 26th Trial Judge
of Caracas, Alí Paredes, is a further
demonstration of the lack of
independence of judges. Paredes has
been challenged repeatedly by the
defense of Afiuni Mora, as he wrote a
message on a website where he swore he
would never take a decision against the
interests of the government of President
Hugo Chávez. |
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THE MEXICAN ARMY CAPTURED A TOP
LIEUTENANT OF "EL CHAPO" GUZMAN
MEXICO
CITY, MEXICO--Mexican
authorities said Monday that they had
dealt a blow to the country's most
powerful drug cartel with the capture of
a top lieutenant - but didn't say
if they were any closer to capturing the
gang's elusive leader. Felipe Cabrera
Sarabia, known as "The Engineer,"
allegedly ran operations for the Sinaloa
drug cartel, Mexico's most powerful, in
the northern state of Durango and in
part of the northern state of Chihuahua,
Chief Army spokesman Gen. Ricardo
Trevilla told a news conference.
Cabrera, wearing a bulletproof vest, was
paraded before the news media in what
has become a common practice for law
enforcement authorities following major
arrests.
  Many experts and law-enforcement officials believe the
reputed leader of the Sinaloa cartel,
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has been
hiding in the mountains of Durango.
Authorities say Guzman is Mexico's top
drug lord, while Forbes magazine has
included him on its list of the world's
richest men, reportedly worth more than
$1 billion. He has eluded authorities
since his 2001 escape from prison in a
laundry truck, and has a $7 million
bounty on his head. Trevilla offered no
information about the hunt for Guzman.
He only said that Cabrera's capture
"will affect the structure and
leadership of the Sinaloa cartel."
At the time of Cabrera's arrest, army special forces
also seized documents and computer
equipment, he said. Cabrera was nabbed
without a shot being fired Friday in the
capital of Sinaloa state, headquarters
of the cartel, army officials first
announced Sunday night. He will be held
for at least 40 days on suspicion of
participating in organized crime and
drug trafficking. Mexican law allows
organized-crime suspects to be held that
long before prosecutors bring formal
charges before a judge. Trevilla said
Cabrera and three of his brothers began
as marijuana growers and that Cabrera
rose through the Sinaloa ranks by using
violence against his rivals. In recent
months, Cabrera waged war against a
rival faction of the Sinaloa cartel
known as the "Ms", leading to a surge in
violence around Durango, he said.
Federal forces have found 14 mass graves
containing 287 bodies in Durango state
since April. |
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CUBA, VENEZUELA SIGN AGREEMENTS FOR USD
1.6 BILLION
havana, cuba--Cuba
and Venezuela executed in Havana 47
cooperation agreements to be implemented
in 2012 for a total of USD 1.6 billion
in areas such as education, agriculture,
trade, health and sports, among others.
  The legal instruments were entered into by Cuban Vice
President Ricardo Cabrisas and
Venezuela's Minister of Petroleum and
Mining Rafael Ramírez, during the second
and last session of the 12th
Cuba-Venezuela Intergovernmental
Commission held in the Cuban capital
city, as reported by local news
agencies, Efe quoted. Ramírez said that
funding and financial assurances for the
agreements signed with the Caribbean
island were already locked in.
Trade between Venezuela and Cuba has amounted to USD 11
billion since 2000, when the bilateral
mechanism of intergovernmental
commissions was put in place, according
to data provided by the Venezuelan
minister. "We have built a new way of
relationships, in which political issues
take precedence over trade aspects;
strategic interests take precedence over
private or commercial interests in our
two countries," Ramírez said. The
Venezuelan minister is also the
president of state-run oil company
Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa). |
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BELIEVE IT OR NOT, A U.S. LESBIAN SAILOR
KISSED HER GIRLFRIEND IN PUBLIC
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--Yet,
on the same day, military officials
announced that the Army had charged
eight soldiers in connection with the
death of a young Chinese-American
private who was allegedly taunted with
ethnic slurs and so brutally hazed by
men in his unit in Afghanistan that he
shot himself in October. According to
his family, Danny Chen, who was 19,
wrote in letters that he was teased for
being Asian and subjected to frequent
jokes about Chinese people.
Asian-American advocacy groups have
demanded that the military work to
improve the treatment of Asians in the
armed forces.
  In some ways, the military has made exemplary progress in
modernizing its culture. Long
desegregated along racial, ethnic and
gender lines, the armed forces now allow
gay soldiers to serve openly as well.
And on Thursday, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations commended the
Department of Defense for announcing
that Muslim and Sikh students in Junior
Reserve Officer Training Corps programs
could request to wear religious head
dress such as turbans and hijabs when
they are in uniform. But the military,
like other institutions, has continued
to struggle along the way with racism,
sexism, sexual assaults and homophobia.
The repeal of the "don't ask, don't
tell" policy is less than a year old;
Gaeta and her girlfriend — who is also a
sailor — could not have kissed so
publicly at a homecoming a year ago. (Gaeta
won the "first kiss" spot in a raffle
among the crew.)
Racism within the ranks is still an issue. The military's
zero tolerance policy is a start, but it
takes strong leadership to educate and
sensitize young and often unworldly
soldiers about the level of respect that
all their fellow soldiers are due. (Of
the eight soldiers charged in Chen's
death, one of them is an officer. He is
charged with dereliction of duty.) The
Army was right to move quickly in
investigating and bringing charges in
the Chen case; with hard work and
leadership, we hope diversity in the
military can become a non-issue in the
years ahead. After the two women kissed
on the Virginia pier, the rest of the
crew filed off the ship and immediately
turned to the bigger issue at hand —
reuniting with their family and friends. |
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THE POPE URGES
Faithful to Look Beyond Christmas
'Superficial Glitter' in Midnight Mass
THE
VATICAN, ROME--Pope
Benedict XVI decried the increasing
commercialization of Christmas as he
celebrated Christmas Eve Mass on
Saturday night,
urging the faithful to look beyond the
holiday's "superficial glitter" to
discover its true meaning. Benedict
presided over the service in a packed
St. Peter's Basilica, kicking off an
intense two weeks of Christmas-related
public appearances that will test the
84-year-old pontiff's stamina amid signs
that fatigue is starting to slow him
down. The Christmas Eve Mass was moved
up to 10 p.m. from midnight several
years ago to spare the pope a late night
that is followed by an important
Christmas Day speech. In a new
concession this year, Benedict processed
down the basilica's central aisle on a
moving platform to spare him the long
walk. Benedict appeared tired by the end
of the Mass and a dry cough interrupted
his homily.
 
In his homily, Benedict lamented that
Christmas has become an increasingly
commercial celebration that obscures the
simplicity of the message of Christ's
birth. "Let us ask the Lord to help us
see through the superficial glitter of
this season, and to discover behind it
the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so
as to find true joy and true light," he
said. It was the second time in as many
days that Benedict has pointed to the
need to rediscover faith to confront the
problems facing the world today. In his
end-of-year meeting with Vatican
officials on Thursday, Benedict said
Europe's financial crisis was largely
"based on the ethical crisis looming
over the Old Continent."
Benedict officially kicked off Christmas
a few hours before the evening Mass,
lighting a candle in his studio window
overlooking St. Peter's Square in a sign
of peace, as crowds gathered to witness
the unveiling of the Vatican's
larger-than-life sized nativity scene.
Security was tight for the evening Mass,
as it has been in recent years. There
were no repeats of the 2008 and 2009
Christmas Eve security breaches, in
which a woman with a history of
psychiatric problems and wearing a
telltale red sweat shirt jumped the
wooden security barrier along the
basilica's central aisle and lunged for
the pope. In 2008, the pope's security
detail blocked her from getting to
Benedict. But in 2009, she managed to
grab Benedict's vestments and pulled him
to the ground. The pope was unhurt and
continued along with the service, but a
French cardinal who was nearby fell and
broke his hip. On Sunday, Benedict
delivered his traditional "Urbi et Orbi"
speech, Latin for "to the city and the
world," from the central loggia of St.
Peter's overlooking the piazza. As
usual, the speech was a survey of sorts
of the hardships and wars confronting
humanity. He also delivered Christmas
greetings in dozens of languages. |
|
cuban dictator raul castro freed 2,900
prisoners FOR "HUMANITARIAN REASONS"
havana, cuba--Cuban
dictator Raúl Castro announced a pardon
for about 2,900 prisoners, but he
sharply disappointed many Cubans who had
hoped for another Christmas gift —
the freedom to travel abroad. Castro
said the “humanitarian” pardon would
include 86 foreigners from 25 nations.
But a senior Cuban government official
later said they did not include Alan
Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor
jailed in Havana. Gross has served two
years of a 15-year sentence on a charge
of endangering the island’s national
security by delivering sophisticated
telecommunications equipment to Cuban
Jews so they could access the Internet
more easily. A Havana blogger who
almost always reflects the government
line, Yohandry Fontana, tweeted that
Castro’s comments to the Cuban
legislature were a “message” to the U.S.
government.
  Cuban officials have said Gross would be freed
earlier only if Washington frees several
Cuban spies arrested in Miami in 1996.
Four are serving long sentences in U.S.
prisons, and one completed his jail term
this year but remains in the United
States on parole. The Obama
administration has made it clear that
until the 62-year-old Potomac, Md., man
is freed, there can be no improvements
in key U.S.-Cuba issues. Messages sent
by El Nuevo Herald to Gross’ family
representatives late Friday were not
immediately answered. In what was to be
the most eagerly-awaited part of his
speech Friday, Castro did not fulfill
predictions by foreign news agencies
that he would announce the easing of
travel restrictions during a one-day
session of the rubberstamp National
Assembly of People’s Power.
Cuba requires its citizens to obtain expensive exit permits
that are usually difficult to obtain
before they can travel abroad; and the
government seizes the properties of
those who move to other countries and
makes it difficult for Cubans living
abroad to visit the island. Castro, who
first acknowledged the need to reform
migratory policy in August, told
lawmakers that many Cubans want changes
to travel policy and that his government
remains committed to “slowly”
introducing required changes. But he
announced no changes at all, saying that
the issue was “complex” and that Cuba
faces “exceptional circumstances” like
“the siege created by the subversive and
meddlesome policies of the U.S.
government.” Cubans agree that hundreds
of thousands of them, if not millions,
want to have the freedom to travel
abroad — some to leave permanently, some
just to work abroad for a time and put
away some savings, and some just to
visit relatives or tourist sites. In
other comments to lawmakers, Castro said
corruption was the biggest threat to
Cuba’s communist system, but he gave no
details on the half-dozen corruption
scandals reported this year by foreign
press. |
|
anti-putin protests drew tens of
thousands to the street of moscow
moscow,
russia--Tens
of thousands of Russians jammed a Moscow
avenue to demand free elections and an
end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's
12-year rule, in the largest show
of public outrage since the protests 20
years ago that brought down the Soviet
Union. Gone was the political apathy of
recent years as many shouted "We are the
Power!" Saturday's demonstration, bigger
and better organized than a similar one
two weeks ago, and smaller rallies
across the country encouraged opposition
leaders hoping to sustain a protest
movement ignited by a fraud-tainted
parliamentary election on Dec. 4. The
enthusiasm also cheered Mikhail
Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader who
closed down the Soviet Union on Dec. 25,
1991. "I'm happy that I have lived to
see the people waking up. This raises
big hopes," the 80-year-old Gorbachev
said on Ekho Moskvy radio. He remembered
for the positive things he did if he
stepped down now.
  The former Soviet leader, who has grown increasingly
critical of Putin, has little influence
in Russia today. But the protesters have
no central leader and no candidate
capable of posing a serious challenge to
Putin, who intends to return to the
presidency in a March vote. Putin, who
gave no public response to the protest
Saturday, initially derided the
demonstrators as paid agents of the
West. He also said sarcastically that he
thought the white ribbons they wore as
an emblem were condoms. Putin has since
come to take their protests more
seriously, and in an effort to stem the
anger he has offered a set of reforms to
allow more political competition in
future elections. A stage at the end of
the avenue featured banners reading
"Russia will be free" and "This election
Is a farce." Alexei Navalny, a
corruption-fighting lawyer and popular
blogger, electrified the crowd when he
took the stage. He soon had the
protesters chanting "We are the power!"
Navalny spent 15 days in jail for
leading a protest on Dec. 5 that
unexpectedly drew more than 5,000 people
and set off the chain of demonstrations.
Putin's United Russia party lost 25 percent of its
seats in the election, but hung onto a
majority in parliament through what
independent observers said was
widespread fraud. United Russia, seen as
representing a corrupt bureaucracy, has
become known as the party of crooks and
thieves, a phrase coined by Navalny. "We
have enough people here to take the
Kremlin," Navalny shouted to the crowd.
"But we are peaceful people and we won't
do that - yet. But if these crooks and
thieves keep cheating us, we will take
what is ours." Protest leaders
expressed skepticism about Putin's
promised political reforms. "We don't
trust him," opposition leader Boris
Nemtsov told the rally, urging
protesters to gather again after the
long New Year's holidays to make sure
the proposed changes are put into law.
He and other speakers called on the
demonstrators to go to the polls in
March to unseat Putin. "A thief must not
sit in the Kremlin," Nemtsov said. |
|
RUSSIA AND U.S. CLASH OVER NATO BOMBING
INVESTIGATION
united
nations, new york--Russia
urged the U.N. Security Council on
Thursday to investigate civilian deaths
in Libya from NATO's bombing campaign,
a move the United States
immediately dismissed as "a cheap stunt"
to distract from Moscow's failure to
condemn the Syrian government's ongoing
killing of protesters. The sharp
exchange reflected the deep division in
the council over the NATO campaign which
the U.S., France, Germany and others
hailed for saving hundreds of thousands
of Libyan lives, but which Russia, China
and the African Union have strongly
criticized.
 
Russia and its supporters argue that
NATO misused the limited council
resolution imposing a no-fly zone and
authorizing the protection of civilians
as a pretext to promote regime change in
Libya. Libya's longtime dictator Moammar
Gadhafi was ousted after 42 years,
captured and killed in October. Russia's
U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said a
council-mandated investigation is
essential "given the fact that initially
we were led to believe by NATO leaders
there are zero civilian casualties of
their bombing campaign."
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who stepped to the microphone
after Churkin, said: "Oh, the bombast
and bogus claims." "Is everyone
sufficiently distracted from Syria now
and the killing that is happening before
our very eyes?" she said. "I think it's
not an exaggeration to say that this is
something of a cheap stunt to divert
attention from other issues and to
obscure the success of NATO and its
partners -- and indeed the Security
Council -- in protecting the people of
Libya," Rice said. France's U.N.
Ambassador Gerard Araud, standing beside
her, said there were two ongoing
investigations of NATO's actions in
Libya, one by a U.N. Human Rights
Council which is scheduled to report in
March and the second by the
International Criminal Court. "We are
not talking about years ... and in the
two cases they are absolutely competent
to handle the NATO military operations,"
he said. "So why ask for a third one
while we don't have any investigation
committee in Syria, when in the last 3-4
days more than 250 people have been
killed." |
|
TWIN SUICIDE BOMBS SHAKE DAMASCUS, 40
DEAD
DAMASCUS, SYRIA--Twin
suicide car bomb blasts ripped through
an upscale Damascus district Friday,
targeting heavily guarded
intelligence buildings and killing at
least 40 people, Syrian authorities
said. The blasts came a day after an
advance team of Arab League observers
arrived in the country to monitor
Syria's promise to end its crackdown on
protesters demanding the ouster of
President Bashar Assad. Government
officials took the observers to the
scene of the explosions and said it
backed their longtime claims that the
turmoil is not a popular uprising but
the work of terrorists. "We said it from
the beginning, this is terrorism. They
are killing the army and civilians,"
Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad
told reporters outside the headquarters
of the General Intelligence Agency,
where bodies still littered the ground.
State TV said initial investigations
indicated possible involvement by the Al
Qaeda terror network.
 
Alongside him, the head of the observer
advance team Sameer Seif el-Yazal said,
"We are here to see the facts on the
ground... What we are seeing today is
regretful, the important thing is for
things to calm down." An opposition
leader raised doubts over the
authorities' version of the events,
suggesting the regime was trying to make
its case to the observers. Omar Idilbi,
a member of the Syrian National Council,
an umbrella group of regime opponents,
called the explosions "very mysterious
because they happened in heavily guarded
areas that are difficult to be
penetrated by a car." "The presence of
the Arab League advance team of
observers pushed the regime to give this
story in order to scare the committee
from moving around Syria," he said,
though he stopped short of accusing the
regime in the blasts. "The second
message is an attempt to make the Arab
League and international public opinion
believe that Syria is being subjected to
acts of terrorism by members of Al
Qaeda."
The blasts went off outside the main headquarters of the
General Intelligence Agency and a branch
of the military intelligence, two of the
most powerful of Syria's multiple
intelligence bodies. Outside the two
buildings, mutilated and torn bodies lay
amid rubble, twisted debris and burned
cars in Damascus' upscale Kfar Sousa
district. Bystanders and ambulance
workers used blankets and stretchers to
carry bloodstained bodies into vehicles.
All the windows were shattered in the
military intelligence building. The two
blasts went off within moments of each
other in the morning Friday, a weekend
day, echoing across the city. A military
official told reporters that more than
40 people were killed and more than 100
wounded. He spoke to reporters on
condition of anonymity in accordance
with military rules. Earlier, state TV
said the dead were mostly civilians but
included military and security
personnel. The blasts came as the Syrian
government escalated its crackdown ahead
of the arrival Thursday of the Arab
League observers. More than 200 were
killed in two days this week. |
|
CUBAN-VENEZUELAN ACTRESS MARIA CONCHITA
ALONSO CALLS ACTOR SEAN PENN A
"COMMUNIST ASSHOLE"
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA--Political
tempers flared between two celebrities
when Cuban actress Maria Conchita Alonso
and Academy Award-winning actor Sean
Penn exchanged heated insults at
Los Angeles Airport, the actress told
radio station WMAL on Tuesday. Alonso, a
sometime-Miami resident whose parents
have both seen their countries — Cuba
and Venezuela — fall under leftist
leaders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez,
called Penn, a “communist asshole” after
he called her “a pig.” The former beauty
queen who first became famous for her
1984 role in Moscow on the Hudson told
the Washington, D.C. radio personalities
the incident happened Sunday in front of
her wheelchair-bound mother and dozens
of passengers and airport staff.
 
The two actors, who co-starred in Colors
in 1988 met accidently at LAX white
waiting for information on Penn's and
Alonso's mother's lost luggage. "I go
'Hello,' and he smiles and says, 'Oh,
you lost your bag too?" Alonso told
Steve Malzberg on WMAL. "And I'm like,
'No, my mother (lost her bag).' And at
that moment he recognizes me because he
didn't recognize me before, and he goes,
'Oh, it's you.'" Alonso says she told
Penn, who has called Chavez a friend,
she wanted to speak with him about the
Venezuelan leader and Penn blew up at
her. “He goes,” she said: “I don't want
to talk to you. You speak badly about
me. You insult me on TV," Alonso told
the station.
Alonso says the conversation escalated when Penn accused
Alonso's brother of attempting to
assassinate Chavez, which Alonso says is
not true, the station’s said on its
website. "So I'm like, 'You are in
favor of Hugo Chavez and [Iranian
President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad.' Because
I also saw a picture of footage from TV
where Chavez and Ahmadinejad are
together and Sean Penn is next to them.
And, you know, he's like 'I've never
said that about Ahmadinejad. You're a
pig.' And I go to him: 'And you are a
communist, Sean Penn!'" Alonso, who is
known for her role in the movies The
Running Man and Predator 2, had not
interacted with Penn since criticizing
him for supporting socialist Venezuelan.
Penn, who won his best actor Oscar for
Milk, has recently been active in Haiti
creating a foundation following the
deadly 2010 earthquake. |
|
iran's navy to hold drill in
international waters
tehran,
iran--Iran's
navy chief said Thursday his forces plan
to hold a 10-day drill in international
waters beyond the strategic Strait of
Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf
-- an exercise that could bring Iranian
ships into proximity with U.S. Navy
vessels. The drill will be Iran's latest
show of strength in the face of mounting
international criticism over its
controversial nuclear program, which the
West fears is aimed at producing atomic
weapons -- charges that Tehran denies,
insisting the program is for peaceful
purposes only.
  The Strait of Hormuz is of strategic significance as the
passageway for about a third of the
world's oil tanker traffic. Beyond it
lie vast bodies of water, including the
Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The
U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet is
also active in the area, as are warships
of several other countries that patrol
for pirates there. Both the U.S. and
Israel have not ruled out a military
option against Iran over its nuclear
program, while Iranian hard-liners have
come out with occasional threats that
Tehran would seal off the key waterway
if the U.S. or Israel moved against the
country's nuclear facilities. Adm.
Habibollah Sayyari told Iranian state TV
that the maneuvers, dubbed Velayat-90,
will begin on Saturday, He said they
will be held in a 1,250-mile stretch of
sea off the southern edge of the Arabian
Peninsula and into the Gulf of Aden,
near the entrance to the Red Sea.
  Iran regularly holds war games and has also been active in
fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Sayyari denied an Iranian media report
from last week that the drill would
close the Strait of Hormuz. "There has
been no decision yet on this," he was
quoted as saying by the official IRNA
news agency. However, he stressed that
Iran's navy and the Revolutionary Guard
have the capability to close the strait
but that "any decision on this will have
to come from the leader," referring to
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Sayyari said Iranian navy would use
submarines, warships, missiles and
torpedoes as well as unmanned planes
during the drill but that it would take
place "within the framework of
international norms." |
|
wave of bombings across iraqi capital
kills 69
BAGhDAD, IRAQ--
A wave of 16 bombings ripped across
Baghdad Thursday, killing at least 69
people in the worst violence in
Iraq for months. The apparently
coordinated attacks struck days after
the last American forces left the
country and in the midst of a major
government crisis between Shiite and
Sunni politicians that has sent
sectarian tensions soaring. The bombings
may be linked more to the U.S.
withdrawal than the political crisis,
but all together, the developments
heighten fears of a new round of
Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed like
the one a few years back that pushed
Iraq to the brink of civil war.
  There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the
bombings bore all the hallmarks of Al
Qaeda's Sunni insurgents. Most appeared
to hit Shiite neighborhoods, although
some Sunni areas were also targeted. In
all, 11 neighborhoods were hit by either
car bombs, roadside blasts or sticky
bombs attached to cars. There was at
least one suicide bombing and the blasts
went off over several hours. Coordinated
campaigns such as this generally take
weeks to plan, and could have been timed
to coincide with the end of the American
military presence in Iraq, possibly to
undercut U.S. claims that they are
leaving behind a stable and safe Iraq.
Al Qaeda has long sought to sow chaos
and provoke the type of Shiite militant
counterattacks that defined Iraq's
insurgency. At least 14 blasts went off
in the morning and there were two more
in the evening.
  The deadliest attack was in the Karrada neighborhood,
where a suicide bomber driving an
explosives-laden vehicle blew himself up
outside the office of a government
agency fighting corruption. Two police
officers at the scene said the bomber
was driving an ambulance and told guards
that he needed to get to a nearby
hospital. After the guards let him
through, he drove to the building where
he blew himself up, the officers said.
Al-Maliki's Shiite-led government this
week accused Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi,
the country's top Sunni political
leader, of running a hit squad that
targeted government officials five years
ago, during the height of sectarian
warfare. Authorities put out a warrant
for his arrest. Many Sunnis fear this is
part of a wider campaign to go after
Sunni political figures in general and
shore up Shiite control across the
country at a critical time when all
American troops have left Iraq.
|
|
arab league observers ARRIVED IN syria
damascus,
syria--Monitors
from the Arab League are due to arrive
in Syria, in an initiative aimed
at ending the violent crackdown on
anti-government protests. An advance
team for a delegation of Arab League
monitors has arrived in the Syrian
capital, Damascus. The observers, due to
arrive by the end of the month, are part
of an initiative aimed at ending the
violent crackdown on anti-government
protests. Damascus blames the unrest on
"armed gangs" seeking to destabilise
Syria. The UN says some 5,000 people
have been killed in Syria since protests
began in March but rights groups say the
figure is much higher.
  In a rebuttal to the UN, Syria state news agency Sana
said on Thursday that more than 2,000
members of the security forces had been
killed since anti-government protests
erupted in March. "In response to a
fallacious (UN) report on the situation
in Syria, we have informed the office of
the UN High commissioner for Human
Rights that the number of martyrs has
surpassed 2,000 members of the security
forces and the army," the report said.
Some have accused the authorities of
stepping up their attacks near the
Turkish border to be sure of controlling
that strategic area in advance of the
observers' deployment. But that would
imply that the regime intends to honour
the peace agreement it signed -
something most activists certainly don't
believe. If the peace deal is
implemented, troops and tanks would have
to leave towns and villages throughout
the country. When they have done that in
the past, those areas have gone back
over to the opposition, so large parts
of the country could slip out of
government control, spelling doom for
the regime.
It still seems confident that it has the support of
large sections of the public and of the
armed forces. Few believe it is ready to
give up yet. The Arab League advance
party, accompanied by members of the
media, arrived in Syria late on Thursday
to prepare for the arrival of the full
delegation, which will have a one-month
mandate that can be extended by another
month if both sides agree. "We arrived
in Damascus safely," Waguih Hanafy,
senior aide to Arab League chief Nabil
Elaraby, said from Damascus. He said the
monitors could be sent before the end of
December. The mission is expected to be
150-strong when complete. The observers
will oversee Syria's compliance with the
league's initiative, which calls for
attacks to stop, troops to withdraw from
the streets and detained protesters to
be freed. |
|
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: IRAN AND CUBA
TIES DON'T BENEFIT THE VENEZUELAN
WAshington,
d.c.--The
United States believes increasingly warm
ties between Venezuela, Iran and Cuba do
not benefit the Venezuelan people, U.S.
President Barack Obama said in an
interview with a Venezuelan newspaper
published on Monday. Venezuelan leader
Hugo Chavez and his Iranian counterpart,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have expanded the
two OPEC nation's close business and
political relations in recent years,
exacerbating tensions between Caracas
and Washington. In May, the United
States imposed sanctions on Venezuela's
state oil company PDVSA for defying U.S.
law by sending at least two tankers
carrying $50 million in oil products to
Iran. "Venezuela is a proud, sovereign
nation ... The U.S. has no intention of
intervening in Venezuela's foreign
relations," Obama said in the email
interview with El Universal newspaper.
"However, I think the government's ties
with Iran and Cuba have not benefited
the interests of Venezuela and its
people.
 
"Sooner or later, Venezuela's people
will have to decide what possible
advantage there is in having relations
with a country that violates fundamental
human rights and is isolated from most
of the world. The Iranian government has
consistently supported international
terrorism." Chavez denounced the PDVSA
sanctions as "gringo aggression." His
alliance with Ahmadinejad, as well as
other anti-U.S. leaders, is a source of
pride for the socialist and a central
part of his efforts to build alternative
axes of power In the interview, Obama
said the U.S. administration was closely
watching the run-up to the Venezuelan
vote. "We felt great concern to see
that measures have been taken to
restrict press freedom and to erode the
separation of powers that are so
necessary for a democracy to flourish,"
he said. A year ago, the U.S. government
revoked the Venezuelan ambassador's visa
in retaliation after Chavez rejected
Obama's choice of envoy to Caracas. That
appeared to bury any lingering hopes of
a rapprochement between both men. But
most analysts say neither will risk
jeopardizing trade ties, principally
Venezuelan oil exports that amount to
about 1 million barrels per day and are
crucial to both economies.
There was a window to improve ties after Obama took
office in January 2009 and promised more
engagement with foes. Chavez toned down
his tirades against the "Yankee empire"
and shook hands with the new U.S. leader
at a summit. But within months, Chavez
said Obama was disillusioning the world
by following his predecessor George W.
Bush's foreign policies, and the
rhetoric from Caracas cranked up again.
In his interview, Obama said most people
in the region were worn out by the war
of words. "I think most people in Latin
America are tired of refighting old
ideological battles that contribute
absolutely nothing towards improving
their daily life. Our people want to
know what we promote, not just what we
oppose," he said. "I look forward to the
day when the governments of the United
States and Venezuela can work together
more closely." |
|
U.S. GENERAL RETURNS FROM IRAQ WITH THE
LAST COMMAND FLAG THAT FLEW OVER BAGHDAD
BAGHDAD, IRAQ--The
last commander of U.S. forces in Iraq
returns to the United States on
Tuesday carrying the command flag that
flew over Baghdad.
 
U.S. Army General Lloyd Austin,
commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq,
greets the last group of soldiers from
the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry
Division to cross the Kuwaiti border as
part of the last U.S. military convoy to
leave Iraq December 18, 2011. General
Lloyd Austin, who oversaw the withdrawal
of the last U.S. troops in Iraq, is
scheduled to be met by President Barack
Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden
shortly after noon EST at Andrews Air
Force Base outside Washington, the White
House said.
The last convoy of U.S. soldiers crossed into Kuwait
from Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine
years of war that cost the lives of
almost 4,500 Americans and tens of
thousands of Iraqis. The pullout was the
fulfillment of an election pledge by
Obama to bring troops home from a
conflict inherited from his predecessor
George W. Bush. |
|
MERCOSUR SEEKS WAYS TO ALLOW
VENEZUELA'S ENTRY INTO THE BLOC
MONTEVIDEO,
URUGUAY--The
foreign ministers of the member
countries of the Common Market of the
South (Mercosur) began Monday in
Montevideo a meeting to define several
issues of the bloc's agenda, ahead of
the presidential summit to be held
Tuesday in the Uruguayan capital. The
Uruguayan foreign minister said that a
"legal and political formula" to allow
Venezuela s accession should be
"absolutely consistent with the Treaty
of Asunción.
 
Foreign ministers of the Common Market
of the South (Mercosur) met on Monday in
Montevideo, Uruguay, to find a "legal
formula" to allow Venezuela's entry to
the bloc, which was agreed in 2006 but
has not materialized due to the lack of
approval by the Paraguayan Congress. "We
are working on several issues in order
to find a way to allow Venezuela's
accession into Mercosur," said Uruguayan
Foreign Minister Luis Almagro after a
discussion with his counterparts from
Argentina, Héctor Timerman; Brazil,
Antonio Patriota; Paraguay, Jorge Lara,
and Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, within
the framework of the preparatory
meetings of the Mercosur presidential
summit which takes place on Tuesday in
Montevideo.
Venezuela's entry into the bloc formed between Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay was signed
in 2006 by the presidents of the group,
but the Paraguayan parliament - which is
controlled by the opposition parties to
the government of President Fernando
Lugo - is the only Congress of the bloc
that has not ratified the decision. "We
are discussing a formula," Almagro said.
However, he added that the solution will
depend on the presidents' decisions at
the summit. The Uruguayan foreign
minister Luis Almagro said that this
"legal and political formula" should be
"absolutely consistent with the Treaty
of Asunción (which established the
common market) and take into account the
political sensibilities of all Mercosur
members." Almagro promised journalists
to talk with his counterparts about
trade issues in the economic bloc and
Venezuela s accession to the Common
Market of the South (Mercosur) |
|
FORMER CZECH PRESIDENT AND
ANTI-COMMUNIST ICON VACLAV HAVEL DIES AT
75
PRAGUE,
CZECH REPUBLIC--Vaclav
Havel, the dissident playwright
who wove theater into politics to
peacefully bring down communism in
Czechoslovakia and become a hero of the
epic struggle that ended the Cold War,
has died. He was 75. Havel died Sunday
morning at his weekend house in the
northern Czech Republic, his assistant
Sabina Tancecova said. Havel was his
country's first democratically elected
president after the nonviolent "Velvet
Revolution" that ended four decades of
repression by a regime he ridiculed as "Absurdistan."
As president, he oversaw the country's
bumpy transition to democracy and a
free-market economy, as well its
peaceful 1993 breakup into the Czech
Republic and Slovakia.
 
Even out of office, the diminutive Czech
remained a world figure. He was part of
the "new Europe" -- in the coinage of
then-U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld -- of ex-communist countries
that stood up for the U.S. when the
democracies of "old Europe" opposed the
2003 Iraq invasion. A former
chain-smoker, Havel had a history of
chronic respiratory problems dating back
to his years in communist jails. He was
hospitalized in Prague on Jan. 12, 2009,
with an unspecified inflammation, and
had developed breathing difficulties
after undergoing minor throat surgery.
Havel left office in 2003, 10 years
after Czechoslovakia broke up and just
months before both nations joined the
European Union. He was credited with
laying the groundwork that brought his
Czech Republic into the 27-nation bloc,
and was president when it joined NATO in
1999.
Shy and bookish, with wispy mustache and unkempt hair, Havel
came to symbolize the power of the
people to peacefully overcome
totalitarian rule. "Truth and love must
prevail over lies and hatred," Havel
famously said. It became his
revolutionary motto which he said he
always strove to live by. Havel was
nominated several times for the Nobel
Peace Prize, and collected dozens of
other accolades worldwide for his
efforts as a global ambassador of
conscience, defended the downtrodden
from Darfur to Myanmar. Among his many
honors were Sweden's prestigious Olof
Palme Prize and the Presidential Medal
of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian
award, bestowed on him by President
George W. Bush for being "one of
liberty's great heroes." |
|
U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY SAID RADIO/TV
MARTI'S BOSSES FAILED TO PROPERLY INFORM
CONGRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The
board that supervises Radio/TV Martí
failed to provide sufficient information
to the U.S. Congress about its
costs and audience in Cuba, the U.S.
Government Accountability Office said
Tuesday. In a strongly worded report,
the GAO also recommended that the
Broadcasting Board of Governors study
“sharing resources” between the Martí
stations and the Voice of America’s
Latin America division. The nine-member
BBG, based in Washington, supervises all
government broadcasters, including the
Martís, VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio
Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle
East Broadcasting Network.
 
Established during the Reagan
administration to break the Cuban
government’s monopoly on information in
the island, the Martí stations have long
been one of the most controversial parts
of the BBG operations. Many critics have
long recommended that the stations be
shut down altogether or folded into the
Spanish-language section of the Voice of
America. The summary of the 18-page GAO
report noted that in 2010 the House and
Senate appropriations committees ordered
the BBG to submit a “strategic plan” for
broadcasting to Cuba, including
audiences, costs per listener,
broadcasting methods and other
measurements. But the plan the
broadcasting board submitted in August
“lacked key information,” the GAO added.
“Of the six requirements in the
directive, we found BBG’s strategic plan
fully addressed one and partially
addressed the remaining five.”
The BBG plan argued that it could not estimate its current
audience on the island because Cubans
live under a dictatorship and often fear
admitting that they listen to foreign
broadcasts, according to the GAO report.
But GAO noted that from 2003 to 2008,
the broadcasting board nevertheless
conducted telephone surveys of Cuban
households to estimate audience size.
Those surveys indicated that less than 2
percent of Cuban adults in households
with land telephone lines acknowledged
that they listened to or watched
Radio/TV Martí on a weekly basis, the
GAO report added. The BBG argued that
the 2008 survey showed a steep drop in
the reach of all foreign broadcasters
among Cuba audiences compared to
previous years, which raised concerns
about the validity of the results of
that survey. “As a result, since 2008,
BBG has not conducted telephone surveys
of Cubans to estimate the audience size
of Radio and TV Marti,” the GAO report
noted. |
|
CUBAN, U.S. SCIENTISTS SEEK AVENUES OF
COOPERATION
HAVANA, CUBA--Scientists
of Cuba and the United States
said on Tuesday that they believe
progress is being made toward their
future cooperation despite the complex
relations existing between their
respective governments for half a
century. “I think both sides can benefit
from collaboration and that this is the
best way to develop future projects,”
the U.S. winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize
for Chemistry, Peter Agre, told Efe,
during a recess of the meeting organized
by the Cuban Academy of Sciences and the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science.
 
Until Friday, 18 U.S. scientists will
analyze, together with experts from
institutions on the Communist-ruled
island, possible avenues of cooperation
for research projects in such areas as
meteorology, the environment, genetics,
biotechnology, tropical medicine and
oceanography. “There’s a lot we could
learn from scientists in Cuba,” Agre,
who now teaches at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, said. As an
example he cited vaccines, treatments
for malaria and other public health
matters that have been studied on the
island.
The scientist said that contacts are still meager and
described as “ridiculous” the idea that
normal relations cannot exist between
his country and Cuba. The U.S. visit
takes advantage of the small opening for
cultural and scientific exchanges that
has been created in the last year
between the two countries. Exchanges
between the two countries of a
scientific, academic, sports and
cultural nature are heavily restricted
as part of the economic embargo that the
United States has imposed on the island
since 1962. The Barack Obama
administration announced last January a
new easing of regulations on travel to
Cuba from the United States. |
|
CLASHES IN CAIRO'S TAHRIR SQUARE KILL 9
CAIRO,
EGYPT--Soldiers beat demonstrators with
batons in Cairo’s Tahrir Square
on
Saturday in a second day of clashes that
have killed nine people and wounded more
than 300, marring the first free
election most Egyptians can remember.
Protesters fled into side streets to
escape the troops in riot gear, who
grabbed people and battered them
repeatedly even after they had been
beaten to the ground, a Reuters
journalist said. Shots were fired in the
air. Fresh clashes erupted between
protesters and security forces for the
second day in a row, killing at least
nine people and overshadowing the count
in the second phase of the first general
election since Hosni Mubarak's ouster.
The army generals who replaced him have
angered some Egyptians by seeming
reluctant to give up power. Others back
the military as a force for badly needed
stability during a difficult transition
to democracy.
  The army assault on Saturday followed
skirmishes between protesters and troops
during which a fire destroyed archives,
some more than 200 years old, in a
building next to Tahrir. An army
official said troops targeted thugs, not
protesters, after shots were fired at
soldiers and petrol bombs set the
archive building ablaze, the state news
agency MENA reported. The bloodshed
follows unrest in which 42 people were
killed in the week before November 28,
the start of a phased parliamentary poll
that is empowering Islamist parties
repressed during the 30-year Mubarak
era, when elections were routinely
rigged. Voting in the second round of a
drawn-out election process seen as part
of a promised transition from army to
civilian rule by July passed off
peacefully on Wednesday and Thursday.
  Friday’s clashes pitted thousands of
demonstrators against soldiers and
plainclothes men who were seen at one
point hurling rocks from the roof of a
parliament building. Army vehicles and
soldiers were deployed at roads leading
into Tahrir Square, the hub of the
anti-Mubarak uprising, on Saturday
evening. Some protesters and troops
threw rocks at each other. Protesters
also lobbed petrol bombs at army lines.
Troops had set up a barrier blocking the
road that leads from the square to the
parliament building. But cars were
passing through other roads entering
Tahrir. The army-appointed prime
minister, Kamal al-Ganzouri, blamed the
violence on youths among the protesters.
“What is happening in the streets today
is not a revolution, rather it is an
attack on the revolution,” he said in a
televised statement. State media put the
death toll at nine and said 200 of the
361 wounded were taken to hospital.
Ganzouri, 78, earlier said 30 security
guards outside parliament had been hurt
and 18 people had gunshot wounds. |
|
VENEZUELA'S OIL PROSPECTS UNCHANGED
FOLLOWING OPEC'S DECISION
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--The Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed on
Wednesday to set an official output
level of 30 million barrels a day for
the 12 countries that make up the oil
group. OPEC members decided to make this
oil output ceiling official because in
2009 they had set an output target of
24.84 million barrels per day (bpd),
although the real output quota was
between 26.3 million bpd and 27.6
million bpd in the past three years,
according to data released by OPEC,
excluding Iraq's oil production.
Including Iraq's oil output, OPEC's oil
output ceiling exceeds 29 million bpd,
and it even reached 30.36 million bpd in
November 2011. "OPEC has only baptized
a child who had already been born," said
Venezuelan economist and oil analyst
Rafael Quiroz.
 
As a result, OPEC's decision will not
have much effect on Venezuela, because
market conditions have not changed,
Quiroz added. However, Libya's oil
production, which was hit by civil war,
has been gaining ground since November.
Libya's oil output has reached 1 million
bpd and it could amount to 1.6 million
bpd in mid-2012, which was the oil quota
of the North African country before the
conflict. Following the problems faced
by Libyan oil industry, OPEC's members
such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait decided
to increase their oil production to
compensate for lost Libyan supply.
However, those countries have not
returned to their original output
levels. This is the reason why
Venezuela's Minister of Petroleum and
Mining Rafael Ramírez has insisted that
the Gulf Arab producers should curb
their production as Libya resumes normal
output.
Quiroz said that "there is no reason to
doubt" that Saudi Arabia is not going to
lower its oil output. If countries that
raised their production level fail to
stick to output quotas set by OPEC,
there could be an oversupply in the
market and oil prices could go down.
Ramírez has also mentioned another
worrying factor: the European crisis.
Therefore, Quiroz thinks that oil prices
could decline. However, the oil analyst
believes that a reasonable oil price for
2012 is USD 90 per barrel. In a less
likely scenario, oil prices could fall
below USD 80. Meanwhile, Venezuelan
authorities have insisted to keep oil
price above USD 100. If oil price does
not increase in 2012, Venezuelan
government's ability to spend could be
affected, and with upcoming presidential
elections, this scenario is not
encouraging for a government that is
committed to increase public spending
next year. |
|
FOUR COLOMBIAN REBELS CAPTURED IN
VENEZUELA
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--Four members of Colombia’s
Los Rastrojos paramilitary group were
apprehended in the western border state
of Tachira, Venezuela’s official AVN
news agency said Friday.
  The Colombians were captured Thursday
by personnel from the Sebin intelligence
service taking part in an operation to
track down paramilitaries from the
neighboring country known to be
operating in Tachira. The suspects were
wanted on charges of drug trafficking,
murder-for-hire, armed robbery and
cattle rustling in Tachira, according to
AVN, which said the Sebin agents
confiscated two guns, a military
uniform, a motorcycle and 300 grams of
illegal drugs.
Los Rastrojos is one of the “criminal
bands” – to use Bogota’s term – that
emerged from the remnants of the AUC
rightist militia federation, which
demobilized as part of a peace process
with the Colombian government. The
commander of another AUC offspring, the
Aguilas Negras gang, was apprehended in
January in the northwestern Venezuelan
city of Maracaibo and extradited to
Colombia to face multiple murder
charges. |
|
US: assad's syria a "dead man walking"
washington,
d.c.--The
Obama administration is predicting the
downfall of Syrian President Bashar
Assad with a senior official
likening his authoritarian regime to a
"dead man walking" over its brutal
crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators
and increasing international isolation.
The State Department official, Frederic
Hof, told Congress on Wednesday that
Assad's repression may allow him to hang
on to power but only for a short time.
And, he urged the Syrian opposition to
prepare for the day when it takes
control of the state in order to prevent
chaos and sectarian conflict. "Our view
is that this regime is the equivalent of
dead man walking," said Hof, the State
Department's pointman on Syria, which he
said was turning into "Pyongyang in the
Levant," a reference to the North Korean
capital. He said it was difficult to
determine how much time Assad has left
in power but stressed "I do not see this
regime surviving."
 
Hof's comments came as violence across
Syria killed at least 25 people on
Wednesday, including eight soldiers who
were gunned down by army defectors in a
retaliatory ambush after government
troops destroyed a civilian car,
according to activists. It was the
second day in a row that an attack by
Assad's forces on civilians seemed to
provoke a revenge strike from
anti-regime fighters and a new sign that
the once-peaceful protest movement is
growing into an insurgency. In an
apparent bid to promote defections, Hof
warned Syrian troops and Assad's top
aides that Assad may be setting them up
for possible war crimes or criminal
charges by claiming in an interview with
ABC News last week that the army was not
his to command.
"It's difficult to imagine a more craven disclaimer of
responsibility," Hof told members of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Perhaps it is a rehearsal for the time
when accountability will come." Assad's
claim "to see, hear and know nothing" is
a message to Syrian soldiers and regime
officials that "your president will
place the blame for crimes committed
squarely on you," Hof said. As Assad's
time wanes, Hof said, the Syrian
opposition must take care not to hurt
chances for a democratic transition.
While calling for Assad's departure, the
opposition has made clear that the
institution of the Syrian state must
stay to ensure the country does not
break down along sectarian lines, Hof
said. To that end, he said, the
opposition needs to broaden its reach.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton met in Switzerland last week
with members of the Syrian National
Council, an umbrella group of Assad
foes, in a clear signal that the U.S. is
willing to work with them. |
|
iran warns of downing other u.s. drones
in its skies
TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran
will hunt down more American spy drones
if the U.S. continues to violate its air
space, a senior Iranian military
official warned Friday, the latest in
triumphant rhetoric from Tehran over the
capture of the unmanned aircraft two
weeks ago. Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani,
Iran's former defense minister, said
Iran won't remain inactive to future
incursions by foreign surveillance
drones. "If U.S. spy planes continue
their aggression, we won't be idle,"
Shamkhani was quoted as saying by the
official IRNA news agency. "We will
continue to hunt down their spy planes,"
The comments were in response to U.S.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta who said
Wednesday during a visit to Afghanistan
-- from where the drone flew out -- that
the United States will continue to
conduct intelligence operations such as
the one that led to the loss of its
RQ-170 Sentinel over Iran.
 
Iran has displayed the pilotless U.S.
aircraft it captured over the country's
east as a feat of its military in a
complicated battle of technology and
intelligence with America, and has
rejected a formal U.S. request to return
the drone, calling its incursion an
"invasion" and a "hostile act."
Shamkhani, who currently runs an Iranian
military strategic studies center,
claimed the fact that Iran brought down
the pilotless surveillance aircraft
nearly intact proves his nation's
technological prowess. "The Islamic
Republic of Iran's capture of this spy
drone shows the high capabilities of our
armed forces," he said. American
officials have said that U.S.
intelligence assessments indicate that
Iran neither shot the drone down, nor
used electronic or cybertechnology to
force it from the sky. They contend the
drone malfunctioned.
On Thursday, Tehran demanded that Afghanistan stop
allowing the U.S. to use bases in the
country to launch drone flights over
Iran. Iran has said the drone was
detected over the eastern town of
Kashmar, some 140 miles from the Afghan
border. Iranian state TV broadcast video
last week of Iranian military officials
inspecting the Sentinel. American author
and terrorism expert, Rachel Ehrenfeld,
argues that the U.S. needs to keep
spying on Iran but lamented the capture
of the almost intact drone by the
Iranians. "I surely hope the U.S. is
using all kind of techniques to spy on
Iran. It's our enemy," she wrote in an
email to The Associated Press in Tehran.
"The shock is that President (Barack
Obama) did not order the immediate
destruction of the drone, instead he
gave away one of the U.S. most advanced
spying technologies." |
|
russian customs seize iran-bound
radioactive metal
moscow,
russia--Russia's
customs agency said Friday that
it seized radioactive metal from the
luggage of an Iranian passenger bound
for Tehran. Spokeswoman Kseniya
Grebenkina told The Associated Press
that the luggage had been seized some
time ago, but could not specify when.
The Iranian hasn't been detained, she
said.
 
The Federal Customs Service said in a
statement that its agents found 18
pieces of metal at Moscow's Sheremetyevo
airport after a radiation alert went on.
It says the gauges showed that radiation
levels were 20 times higher than normal.
Prosecutors have launched a probe into
the incident, Grebenkina said. The
pieces contained Sodium-22, she said, a
radioactive isotope of sodium that could
be produced in a particle accelerator.
Sodium-22 is a positron-emitting isotope
that has medical uses, including in
nuclear medicine imaging.
Sergei Novikov, spokesman for the Rosatom nuclear
agency, told the AP that the pieces are
highly unlikely to have come from
Rosatom and said the isotope is produced
by particle accelerators, not by nuclear
reactors. In Russia, universities,
research institutes and big medical
centers can have the technology to
produce it, he said. "There is an
extremely slim chance that it could have
come from Rosatom," he said. Novikov
said that Rosatom has never sold
Sodium-22 to Iran, but it has supplied
it with other types of medical isotopes. |
|
PRIME MINISTER
PUTIN DENOUNCES PROTESTERS, REJECTS
RERUN OF VOTE IN RUSSIA
MOSCOW,
RUSSIA--Sharp-tongued and defiant, Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin denounced
those protesting vote fraud as stooges
of the West and insisted that Russia’s
national election was valid. His
opponents were undeterred.
 
In a 4 1/2-hour marathon call-in show on
national TV, Putin aimed to erect a
bulwark against a rising wave of
discontent. But his disdainful tone
appeared likely to only fuel more
protests, after a fraud-tainted
parliamentary vote Dec. 4 sparked the
largest public anger Russia has seen in
a generation. In an appearance lasting
from high noon to sunset Thursday in
Moscow, a vigorous Putin defended the
election as reflecting “the real balance
of power in the country” and rejected
calls for it to be rerun. That
effectively dismissed opposition claims
that vote fraud had given Putin’s United
Russia party a majority of the seats in
parliament.
The 59-year-old leader acknowledged that
the tightly controlled political system
he crafted during a dozen years in power
“may and should move toward
liberalization” and proposed that web
cameras be set up in all the country’s
more than 90,000 polling stations ahead
of the March 4 election in which he will
seek to return to the presidency. |
|
AHMADINEJAD REJECTS US INTENTIONS
TO ATTACK IRAN AND VENEZUELA
TEHRAN, IRAN--Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said Monday night that the accusations
against his country and Venezuela on the
alleged preparation of groups to launch
cyber attacks are a lie. He also
questioned Washington's role and
describe the US as a promoter of
terrorism in the world. In an interview
broadcast live on Venezuelan state-run
TV Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), he
told Venezuelan journalist Walter
Martínez: "What do the Zionists have to
say?" Ahmadinejad blamed the US and
Israel as the main instigators of
violence in the world. "What are their
accusations to free peoples? Now
professional thieves are crying:
thieves!, thieves! Zionists are the
origin of all international wars,"
Ahmadinejad claimed.
  He explained that there are looming
threats both to Venezuela and "free
countries," because "they (the United
States and the Zionists) are seeking to
dominate the world. They make
accusations against any (country that
becomes an) obstacle." The Iranian Head
of State compared the current state of
affairs with the attacks on the World
Trade Center on September 11, 2001. "The
slogan they are using today is the fight
against terrorism." He cited the cases
of Iraq, Afghanistan, and said that
"terrorist operations in the region have
increased a hundredfold in the region."
Ahmadinejad added that Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez "does not need to
kill because logic is on his side... Who
are the ones who need to kill? he
wondered. People who have no logic on
his side," he stressed. Ahmadinejad
dismissed the sanctions and allegations
made by the European Union and the
Unites States over the alleged Tehran's
plans to have nuclear weapons. The
Iranian Head of State confirmed that the
US surveillance drone which was brought
down by the Iranian Army has been held
by his country. "It is under the control
of Iran," Ahmadinejad said. Finally,
the Iranian president said that Marxism
and capitalism have failed in their
search for improvements for humankind. |
|
MAHMOUD ABBAS RAISES PALESTINIAN FLAG AT
UNESCO IN PARIS
PARIS,
FRANCE--Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas has raised the Palestinian
flag above a UN agency for the first
time. Abbas said he hoped Unesco's
admission of Palestine was the beginning
of international recognition. The
Palestinians were admitted into the UN's
cultural, education and science
organisation in October, despite strong
opposition from the US and Israel.
Washington reacted by suspending its
funding for Unesco, which accounted for
a fifth of its annual budget. Two US
laws prohibit giving funding to any UN
body that admits the Palestinians as
full members before they reach a peace
deal with Israel.
 
At a ceremony in Paris, President Abbas
hoisted the red, black, white and green
Palestinian flag outside Unesco's
headquarters. "This is truly a historic
moment," he said to cheers from some of
the 50 guests. "This admission is the
first recognition of Palestine." "It is
moving to see our flag raised and for it
to be flying in this beautiful city of
Paris, among all the other states. This
bodes well for Palestine becoming a
member of other international
institutions," he added. "Today, we are
members of Unesco and we hope we will
have one independent state in the future
that will live side-by-side with
Israel." The director general of
Unesco, Irina Bokova, said she hoped
Palestine's admission would be a step
towards peace with Israel. "
A solution with two states living in
peace and security has been
long-awaited," she said. "I want to
believe that this admission to Unesco is
a chance to show that peace is also
built through education and culture."
Unesco's decision does not have any
direct impact on the stalled bid for
recognition of a Palestinian state at
the UN, which Mr Abbas submitted to the
Security Council in September. The US
has threatened to veto it. The Palestine
Liberation Organisation (PLO) has only
observer status. The Palestinians have
long sought to establish an independent,
sovereign state in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza
Strip. However, two decades of
on-and-off peace talks have failed. The
latest round of negotiations broke down
a year ago over the issue of Jewish
settlement building in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem. Israel has said that
Unesco's admission of Palestine will
bring no change on the ground, but
further remove the possibility for a
peace deal. |
|
U.S. AUTHORITIES PROBING ALLEGED PLOT BY
VENEZUELA, IRAn AGAINST THE UNITED
STATES
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--U.S.
officials are investigating reports that
Iranian and Livia Acosta, General Consul
of Venezuela in Miami , then a
Venezuelan diplomats in Mexico, were
involved in planned cyberattacks against
U.S. targets, including nuclear power
plants. Allegations about the cyberplot
were aired last week in a documentary on
the Spanish-language TV network
Univision, which included secretly
recorded footage of Iranian and
Venezuelan diplomats being briefed on
the planned attacks and promising to
pass information to their governments.
 
Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Democrat and chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations subcommittee on the
Western Hemisphere, called for hearings
in the new year about Iranian activities
in Latin America. Some House lawmakers
called for the expulsion of a Venezuelan
diplomat in the U.S. who is implicated
in the suspected plot. The Univision
documentary fanned fears among lawmakers
that Iran’s recent diplomatic outreach
in the region, particularly to
Venezuela’s anti-American leftist
President Hugo Chavez, might be a front
for nefarious activities.
Earlier this year,
U.S. prosecutors charged an Iranian
official based in Tehran with trying to
recruit a Mexican drug cartel to kill
the Saudi ambassador to the United
States by bombing a Washington
restaurant. “If Iran is using regional
actors to facilitate and direct
activities against the United States,
this would represent a substantial
increase in the level of the Iranian
threat and would necessitate an
immediate response,” Mr. Menendez said.
An aide to Mr. Menendez told The Times
that the Univision report, which also
said that Iranian extremists were
recruiting young Latin American Muslims,
is “one of a variety of concerns we have
about Iran’s efforts to engage with
countries and other actors in the
region.” Next year’s hearing will
examine Iran’s “political and commercial
outreach, as well as more nefarious
activities,” the aide said. “We monitor
Iran’s activities in the region
closely,” Mr. Ostick said. “That
vigilance led to the arrest of the
individual responsible for the recent
assassination plot” against the Saudi
ambassador. |
|
cubA TARGETS MILITARY FIRM IN CORRUPTION
PROBE
HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba
has detained top executives of the
powerful military-run Tecnotex company,
broadening a corruption investigation
that has already shuttered three foreign
firms, foreign business sources told
Reuters.
integraldevelopment.cua.eduTecnotex is
one of the most important trading
companies on the Communist-run island,
purchasing equipment, technology,
construction materials and other goods
for a myriad of military-owned firms in
the civilian sector of the economy.
Tecnotex's director Fernando Noy was
among those arrested, according to a
foreign businessman who deals with the
company. "They went right into the
Tecnotex office and took Noy out in
handcuffs," he said. Other sources also
said Noy was detained.
 
The reported arrest follows that of the
chief executive officers of one British
and two Canadian companies along with a
number of their Cuban employees and
purchasers for state-run firms - all of
whom had dealings with Tecnotex,
according to the sources. The chief
executives remain in custody. Noy is a
military officer and is well-known
within Cuba's business world. His
reported arrest could not be confirmed
with Cuban authorities. However, the
company told callers that Noy no longer
worked for Tecnotex and had been
replaced by Belkis Mir Verdura. The
firm's commercial director has also been
removed while a deputy sugar minister,
arrested in October, remains behind bars
in connection with the probe.
A crackdown began when President Raul Castro
succeeded his older brother Fidel as
president in 2008 and said widespread
theft and corruption had to be
eliminated because it contributed to
Cuba's chronic economic woes. It
coincided with reforms to strengthen
Cuba's socialist system. Dozens of
Cubans have been jailed, including
former government officials and top
executives of state companies. Cuba's
armed forces have been active players in
the economy for years through their
holding company Grupo de Administracion
Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), which is
headed by President Raul Castro's
son-in-law, Colonel Luis Alberto
Rodriguez. Western diplomats and
businessmen believe GAESA's businesses,
which included Tecnotex, control as much
as 40 percent of Cuba's foreign exchange
revenues. The precise allegations
against the former Tecnotex director and
the foreign company CEOs, who have yet
to be charged, are not known, diplomats
said. Their arrests have not been
reported in Cuba's state-run media. |
|
OPEC AGREES ON OIL OUTPUT CEILING
VIENNA,
AUSTRIA--The
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) Wednesday agreed
on a new output limit for the first time
in three years, thus ending a six-month
argument over output quotas with a move
that favors Saudi Arabia. The OPEC
ministers agreed on a new supply target
of 30 million barrels a day, said
Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and
Mining Rafael Ramírez. The figure is
roughly in line with current production.
 
The agreement puts a cap on output for
the 12 OPEC members for the first time
this year and would keep the
organization's output near its highest
levels in three years, which is an
amount enough to increase oil reserves.
When OPEC met in June, it failed to
reach an agreement on a higher supply
ceiling, leaving Saudi Arabia, which is
the world's largest oil exporter, free
to supply markets with oil as necessary
to compensate for lost Libyan supply.
Iran, Venezuela and Algeria, all of whom are
already producing at full capacity, want
to keep oil prices above USD 100 a
barrel. "We think the present level is
appropriate for producers and
consumers," Algerian Oil Minister Youcef
Yousfi said. The three countries are
seeking a commitment from Saudi Arabia
and other Gulf Arab producers to curb
their production as Libya returns to
normal output. |
|
cuban americans could travel only once
every three years if measure is approved
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--The
U.S. House of Representatives’
Appropriations Committee passed a bill
on Thursday carrying an amendment to
annul President Barack Obama’s measures
that ease travel and money transfers to
Cuba. A proposal in Congress to roll
back the Obama administration’s broad
opening of Cuban-American travel and
remittances to the island appears likely
to be approved as part of a massive
year-end spending bill, according to
Congress members.
 
“My concern is that this is very much
alive,” Rep. José E. Serrano, a New York
Democrat who has long opposed U.S.
sanctions on Cuba, declared Monday as he
tried to mobilize opposition to the
proposal. President Barack Obama has
threatened to veto the measure,
submitted by South Florida Republican
Mario Diaz Balart in July and approved
by a committee as part of a Treasury
spending bill. The Treasury bill is one
of the nine end-of-year U.S. government
spending measures rolled into one and
now under consideration by the House and
Senate. The two chambers are trying to
agree on a compromise version before the
holidays recess.
 
There’s been no sign so far that the
Diaz-Balart effort has been stripped
from the compromise bill under
negotiation, and Obama would find it
difficult if not impossible to block it
if it remains on the version of the
spending bill that reaches his desk. The
Diaz-Balart measure would return the
restrictions to levels set by President
George W. Bush: only one trip every
three years for “family reunifications,”
a cap on remittances of $1,200 per year
and a tighter definition of “family.”’
“This is changing the rules in the
middle of the game,” Serrano told El
Nuevo Herald Monday. “What happens to
Doña Juana, who left today for Cuba. She
will be in violation … What happens to
people who made plans to travel the
22nd?” |
|
TWO STUDENTS KILLED BY MEXICAN POLICE
MEXICO CITY,
MEXICO--
Prosecutors in southern Mexico said
Tuesday they found an AK-47 assault
rifle, hand grenades and gasoline
bombs at the scene of a protest where a
violent clash between student
demonstrators and police resulted in the
death of two students. Alberto Lopez,
the attorney general of the southern
state of Guerrero, told a local radio
station he believed “there were outside
elements involved in the protest” who
were not students at the rural teachers
college where the protest originated.
According to the state prosecutors
office, two students died on a highway
leading to the Pacific coast resort of
Acapulco during clashes with police
after the protesting students allegedly
hijacked buses and set fire to pumps at
a gas station.
 
Officials say one student died after
being hit in the head with a rock and
another died of a bullet wound but the
case is still under investigation. Late
Monday, Lopez told a news conference
that eight hand grenades had also been
found at the scene of the demonstration
on a highway in the state capital,
Chilpancingo. The highway leads to the
Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, and
the students had allegedly hijacked
buses and blocked the road to press
their demands for more funding and
assured jobs once they graduated. Lopez
said the students had also set fire to
pumps at a gas station on the highway
when federal and state police moved in
to quell the protest, and that a gas
station employee had suffered serious
burns in the attack. His office has said
police were using tear gas to repel the
demonstrators when shots rang out, and
that authorities are still investigating
who fired those shots.
Lopez said shell casings recovered at the scene were
from an AK-47, a weapon which, like the
grenades, are commonly used by Mexican
drug gangs but not issued to law
enforcement agencies in Mexico. The
students’ bodies are still being
examined to determine what weapon killed
them. He said students at the Ayotzinapa
teachers college had often demonstrated
in the past, but that Monday’s protest
was ‘very unusual” in its level of
violent behavior. But at an impromptu
news conference in Chilpancingo,
students from the college said none of
the estimated 300 to 400 protesters was
armed. They accused authorities of
planting weapons at the scene to justify
the killing of the demonstrators. They
said a third student had been seriously
wounded and was undergoing surgery. |
|
FORMER DICTATOR MANUELNORIEGA RETURNS TO
PANAMA TO SERVE MORE JAIL TIME
PANAMA
CITY, PANAMA--Former
Panama strongman Manuel Noriega has
returned home to Panama under
tight security, after serving more than
20 years in prisons in the United States
and France for drug trafficking and
money laundering. Noriega, military
dictator 1983-1989, now faces three
separate sentences for crimes committed
in Panama, including the murder of
critics. The ex-strongman arrived on an
Iberia flight from Paris escorted by a
delegation of six foreign ministry
officials, police, doctors and a
prosecutor. Journalists aboard the
flight told local media that doctors had
to examine Noriega for unexplained
health reasons upon arrival.
 
Now 77 and frail, Noriega's return
reopens a painful chapter for opponents
and victims of his regime as well as
ordinary Panamanians who say the
ex-strongman has shown no sign of
remorse. Awaiting Noriega is a
12-square-metre cell with two windows, a
bed, a bathroom and a metal door in a
prison called El Renacer, which means
rebirth in Spanish, on the banks of the
Panama Canal north-west of Panama City,
the government said. The government
released a video of the cell, which has
a small table and shelf, after accounts
in the local press suggested the former
dictator would be enjoying comforts
including a double bed, a refrigerator,
easy chairs and other furnishings.
"Inmate Noriega will be placed in an
individual cell, without luxuries and in
similar conditions as the rest of the
detainees," the government said in a
statement. It remains uncertain exactly
how long Noriega may spend behind bars,
as Panamanian law allows inmates aged 70
and over to petition for house arrest.
Relatives of victims of Noriega's regime have virulently
opposed applying the rule to the former
dictator. Aurelio Barria, who organised
the Civic Crusade series of protests in
the 1980s against the regime, called for
demonstrators to come out into the
streets to repudiate the former ruler
and insist that he serve out his
sentence in jail, not at home. Others
expressed compassion, noting Noriega is
suffering health problems. "Let him live
out his old age - he will go to prison
but then go home. Noriega is not the
only one to blame, there were others,
but he is paying for what he did," Elvia
Maria Ugarte, a 46-year-old housewife,
said. At his extradition hearing in
November, Noriega said he wanted to
"return to Panama without hatred or
resentment." "I want to go back to
Panama to prove my innocence in these
procedures that were carried out in my
absence and without legal assistance,"
he told the court. |
|
PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS ON IRAN TO GIVE
BACK DOWNED U.S. DRONE
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--The
Obama administration said
Monday it has delivered a formal request
to Iran for the return of a U.S.
surveillance drone captured by Iranian
armed forces, but is not hopeful that
Iran will comply. President Barack Obama
said that the U.S. wants the top-secret
aircraft back. "We have asked for it
back. We'll see how the Iranians
respond," Obama said during a White
House news conference with Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday. He
wouldn't comment on what the Iranians
might learn from studying the downed
aircraft. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta said they're not optimistic
about getting the drone back because of
recent Iranian behavior that Clinton
said indicated "that the path that Iran
seems to be going down is a dangerous
one for themselves and the region."
 
"We submitted a formal request for the
return of our lost equipment as we would
in any situation to any government
around the world," Clinton told
reporters at a State Department news
conference with British Foreign
Secretary William Hague. "Given Iran's
behavior to date we do not expect them
to comply but we are dealing with all of
these provocations and concerning
actions taken by Iran in close concert
with our closest allies and partners,"
she said. Panetta said the request to
return the drone was appropriate. "I
don't expect that that will happen. But
I think it's important to make that
request." Neither Obama nor Clinton
would provide details of the drone
request, but diplomatic exchanges
between Washington to Tehran are often
handled by Switzerland, which represents
U.S. interests in Iran. The State
Department said Monday that the Swiss
ambassador to Iran met with Iranian
foreign ministry officials last week but
refused to say what they discussed.
Iran TV reported earlier Monday that
Iranian experts were in the final stages
of recovering data from the RQ-170
Sentinel, which went down in Iran
earlier this month. Tehran has cited the
capture as a victory for Iran and
displayed the nearly intact drone on
state TV. U.S. officials say the
aircraft malfunctioned and was not
brought down by Iran. Despite the
incident, Clinton said the
administration and its allies would
continue to push Iran to engage over its
nuclear program while at the same time
increasing pressure on the regime with
new, enhanced sanctions. "We obviously
believe strongly in a diplomatic
approach. We want to see the Iranians
engage and, as you know, we have
attempted to bring about that engagement
over the course of the last three-plus
years. It has not proven effective, but
we are not giving up on it," she said. |
|
IRAN WILL NOT RETURN A U.S. DRONE
CAPTURED BY ITS ARMED FORCES
TEHRAN, IRAN--
Gen. Hossein Salami,
deputy head of the Guard,
said in remarks broadcast on state
television that the violation of Iran's
airspace by the U.S. drone was a
"hostile act" and warned of a "bigger"
response. He did not elaborate on what
Tehran might do. Iranian lawmaker Parviz
Sorouri, a member of the parliament's
national security and foreign policy
committee, said Monday the extracted
information will be used to file a
lawsuit against the United States for
what he called the "invasion" by the
unmanned aircraft. Sorouri also claimed
that Iran has the capability to
reproduce the drone through reverse
engineering, but he did not elaborate.
State TV broadcast images Thursday of
Iranian military officials inspecting
what it identified as the drone. Iranian
state media have said the unmanned spy
aircraft was detected and brought down
over the country's east, near the border
with Afghanistan.
 
Officers in the Revolutionary Guard,
Iran's most powerful military force,
have claimed the country's armed forces
brought down the surveillance aircraft
with an electronic ambush, causing
minimum damage to the drone. American
officials have said that U.S.
intelligence assessments indicate that
Iran neither shot the drone down, nor
used electronic or cybertechnology to
force it from the sky. They contend the
drone malfunctioned. The officials spoke
anonymously in order to discuss the
classified program. U.S. officials are
concerned others may be able to reverse
engineer the chemical composition of the
drone's radar-deflecting paint or the
aircraft's sophisticated optics
technology that allows operators to
positively identify terror suspects from
tens of thousands of feet in the air.
They are also worried adversaries may be
able to hack into the drone's database,
although it is not clear whether any
data could be recovered.
Some surveillance technologies allow video to stream through
to operators on the ground but do not
store much collected data. If they do,
it is encrypted. Separately, in comments
to the semi-official ISNA news agency,
Sorouri said Iran would soon hold a navy
drill to practice the closure of the
strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth
of the Persian Gulf, which is the
passageway for about 40 percent of the
world's oil tanker traffic. Despite
Sorouri's comments and past threats that
Iran could seal off the waterway if the
U.S. or Israel moved against Iranian
nuclear facilities, no such exercise has
been officially announced. "Iran will
make the world unsafe" if the world
attacks Iran, Sorouri said. Both the
U.S. and Israel have not rule out
military option against Iran's
controversial nuclear program, which the
West suspects is aimed at making atomic
weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying
its nuclear activities are geared toward
peaceful purposes like power generation. |
|
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT MEDVEDEV ORDERS PROBE
INTO ELECTION FRAUD
MOSCOW,
RUSSIA--Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev announced on
his Facebook page that he
has ordered a probe into the allegations
of electoral fraud during the country's
Dec. 4 parliamentary vote. Medvedev's
post generated over 2,200 mostly angry
comments within one hour. "Shame!" and
"We don't believe you!" were the most
common. Other Facebook users asked
Medvedev whether he really disagrees
with the protest's main slogan, "We're
for fair elections." Some wrote that
Medvedev's message made them even more
determined to take part in the next
planned rally against electoral fraud -
on Dec. 24.
 
Tens of thousands of Russians rallied in
Moscow and other cities on Saturday in
the largest anti-government protest in
the nation's post-Soviet history to
protest alleged fraud in the
parliamentary election and to demand the
departure of Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin. Medvedev on Sunday broke two days
of silence by posting a comment on his
Facebook page. "I disagree with the
slogans as well as with the speeches
that were made at the rallies," he said,
but added that he gave instruction for a
check of the reports of fraud. He did
not mention who would carry out the
probe.
Neither Medvedev nor Putin has made any public
appearances over the weekend, although
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said
in a statement that the government
"respects the point of view of the
protesters" and is "hearing what is
being said." Unlike Putin, the
tech-savvy Medvedev, Russia's president
since 2008, has enjoyed some support
among an educated urban elite. But an
announcement in September that he will
step aside to let his mentor Putin run
for a third term as president has
angered many Medvedev supporters.
Earlier on Sunday, several hundred
nationalists rallied in downtown Moscow,
demanding a bigger say for ethnic
Russians in the country's politics and
marking the first anniversary of a
violent nationalist riot just outside
the Kremlin. |
|
CUBAN DISSIDENTS SAY AT LEAST 250
DETAINED BY STATE SECURITY FORCES
HAVANA, CUBA--Cuban
government supporters thrEw a party on
Saturday with games and cultural events
in a park where dissidents planned to
celebrate the 63rd anniversary of a U.N.
human rights accord, state media
and dissidents said. "Some 250
detentions for political motives have
taken plan in the last nine days in the
lead up to international human rights
day," Elizardo Sanchez of the
independent Cuban Commission of Human
Rights said. "Authorities use a tactic
of short-duration arrests, who are
released a few hours or days later, to
impede protests."
 
International rights groups say Cuban
laws virtually prevent all forms of
protest and dissent while the government
says the free education and health
services it provides show its respect
for human rights. On Friday, about 200
government devotees prevented the
opposition group Ladies in White from
marching in central Havana. The Ladies
in White group was formed by the wives
and mothers of 75 dissidents jailed in a
2003 crackdown on Castro's opponents.
They have since been released. Havana's
"Black Spring of 2003" caused a major
fallout between Cuba and the
international community, and while some
European nations have begun a
rapprochement since the prisoner
release, long-time foe the United States
remains skeptical.
 
Cuba's government, which came to power
in 1959 by overthrowing a U.S.-backed
dictator, accuses domestic dissidents of
being bought by Washington, which has
had a trade embargo against the island
since the 1960s. On Saturday, state
media was filled with stories and
commentaries for the anniversary of the
adoption by the United Nations of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
1948. "The fulfillment of international
commitments ... has been implicit in the
work of the Cuban Revolution despite the
economic war ... and also the systematic
plots to destroy it," Jose Luis Mendez
Mendez, an analyst at the research arm
of the Interior Ministry, wrote. |
|
former dictator manuel noriega flown to
panama
panama city,
panama--Former
military strongman Manuel Antonio
Noriega was flown home to Panama
on Sunday to be punished once again for
crimes he committed during a career that
saw him transformed from a close Cold
War ally of Washington to the vilified
target of a U.S. invasion. Noriega left
Orly airport, south of Paris, on a
flight of Spain's Iberia airlines,
delivered directly to the aircraft by a
four-car convoy and motorcycles that
escorted him from the French capital's
walked La Sante prison. The flight,
which stops in Madrid, left at 8:08 a.m.
about a half-hour behind schedule. The
French Justice Ministry, in a one-line
statement, said France turned Noriega
over to Panamanian officials on Sunday
in accordance with extradition
proceedings. It was the only official
remark.
 
Noriega's return comes after more than
20 years in U.S. and French prisons for
drug trafficking and money laundering.
Panama convicted him during his
captivity overseas for the slayings of
two political opponents in the 1980s. He
was sentenced to 20 years in each case,
and Panamanian officials say he will be
sent straight to a jail cell when he
lands. The ex-general, whose pockmarked
face earned him the nickname "Pineapple
Face," could eventually leave prison
under a law allowing prisoners over 70
to serve out their time under house
arrest. A doctor was reported to be
among the team of Panamanian officials
escorting the 77-year-old ex-dictator
back to Panama. "He was very impatient,
very happy. He's going home," one of his
French lawyers, Antonin Levy, said by
telephone Saturday night, a day after
his last visit with Noriega. But many
Panamanians still want to see the man
who stole elections and dispatched
squads of thugs to beat opponents bloody
in the streets to pay his debt at home.
"Noriega was responsible for the
invasion and those who died in the
operation. He dishonored his uniform,
there was barely a shot and he went off
to hide.
Noriega
must pay," said Hatuey Castro, 82, a
member of the anti-Noriega opposition
who was detained and beaten by the
strongman's thugs in 1989. Though other
U.S. conflicts have long since pushed
him from the spotlight, the 1989
invasion that ousted Noriega was one of
the most bitterly debated events of the
Cold War's waning years. Noriega faces
immediate punishment for the murders of
military commander Moises Giroldi, slain
after leading a failed rebellion on Oct.
3, 1989, and Hugo Spadafora, a political
opponent found decapitated on the border
with Costa Rica in 1985. He also could
be tried in the deaths of other
opponents during the same period. "He's
coming to serve his sentences, and
that's important for the families of the
victims," said former Panamanian
Attorney General Rogelio Cruz. "His
presence here is important because he'll
satisfy the demands of justice for his
criminal convictions and the trials that
he still has to face." |
|
iran says it will not return u.s. drone
tehran,
iran--Iran
will not return a U.S. surveillance
drone captured by its armed forces,
a senior commander of the
country's elite Revolutionary Guard said
Sunday. Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head
of the Guard, said in remarks broadcast
on state television that the violation
of Iran's airspace by the U.S. drone was
a "hostile act" and warned of a "bigger"
response. He did not elaborate on what
Tehran might do. "No one returns the
symbol of aggression to the party that
sought secret and vital intelligence
related to the national security of a
country," Salami said.
 
Iranian television broadcast video
Thursday of Iranian military officials
inspecting what it identified as the
RQ-170 Sentinel drone. Iranian state
media have said the unmanned spy
aircraft was detected over the eastern
town of Kashmar, some 140 miles from the
border with Afghanistan. U.S. officials
have acknowledged losing the drone.
Salami called its capture a victory for
Iran and a defeat for the U.S. in a
complicated intelligence and
technological battle. "Iran is among the
few countries that possesses the most
modern technology in the field of
pilotless drones. The technology gap
between Iran and the U.S. is not much,"
he said.
Officers in the Guard, Iran's most powerful
military force, had previously claimed
that the country's armed forces brought
down the surveillance aircraft with an
electronic ambush, causing minimum
damage to the drone. American officials
have said that U.S. intelligence
assessments indicate that Iran neither
shot the drone down, nor used electronic
or cybertechnology to force it from the
sky. They contend the drone
malfunctioned. The officials had spoken
anonymously in order to discuss the
classified program. But Salami refused
to provide more details of Iran's claim
to have captured the CIA-operated
aircraft. "A party that wins in an
intelligence battle doesn't reveal its
methods. We can't elaborate on the
methods we employed to intercept,
control, discover and bring down the
pilotless plane," he said. |
|
thousands of people attended a huge
anti-government rally in moscow
moscow, russia--As
many as 50,000 people gathered on an
island near the Kremlin to condemn
alleged ballot-rigging in parliamentary
elections and demand a re-run.
Other, smaller rallies took place in St
Petersburg and other cities. Communists,
nationalists and Western-leaning
liberals turned out together despite
divisions between them. The protesters
allege there was widespread fraud in
Sunday's polls though the ruling United
Russia party did see its share of the
vote fall sharply. Demonstrations in the
immediate aftermath of the election saw
more than 1,000 arrests, mostly in
Moscow, and several key protest leaders
such as the anti-corruption campaigner
Alexei Navalny were jailed.
  A message from Mr Navalny was released through his blog,
saying: "The time has come to throw off
the chains. We are not cattle or slaves.
We have a voice and we have the strength
to defend it." Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin has never experienced popular
protests like these before, the BBC's
Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow.
During his decade in power, first as
president then prime minister, he has
grown used to being seen as Russia's
most popular and powerful politician.
But as one of the protesters put it to
our correspondent, Russia is changing.
Police put the number gathering on
Moscow's Bolotnaya Square for the "Fair
Elections" rally at 25,000 while
organisers talked of 100,000.
  Nobody believes the elections were free and fair. Many
are also asking that the head of the
election commission stands down, and
some are going even further and
demanding that Vladimir Putin himself
resigns. There's a real sense of anger -
and although the numbers are not that
big in global terms, in Moscow terms
this is a very, very significant
demonstration. This number simply
haven't come out onto the streets of
Moscow since 1990s. It should not be
underestimated what a significant moment
this is. It may not deal a fatal blow
to Mr Putin's government, but it is
certainly the most severe wake-up call
he has received during 12 years in
power. The BBC's Daniel Sandford
reports from the scene that the number
seems to be closer to 50,000, and people
continued to rally on the square after
hearing the speakers. |
|
taliban commander confirms peace talks
with the pakistani government
pesHawar,
pakistan--The
Pakistani Taliban is in peace talks with
the Pakistani government, a
senior commander in the militant group
said Saturday, adding the negotiations
were "progressing well." The statement
by Maulvi Faqir Mohammad is the first
time a named Taliban commander has
confirmed that the group is negotiating
with the Pakistani government. Mohammad,
said to be the deputy chief of the
group, said his men had held "peace
talks with relevant government
officials." "They are progressing well,
and we may soon sign a formal peace
agreement with the government," he said
in a telephone conversation.
  Last month, anonymous militants and intelligence
officials said exploratory peace talks
were under way. The government and the
army denied any such talks after those
reports were published, as did a
spokesman for the Taliban. It is unclear
whether Mohammad speaks for the group's
entirety. The network, which has
declared war on the Pakistani state and
carried out hundreds of bloody suicide
attacks around the country, is believed
to have splintered into different
factions over the last year. Government
officials were not available for fresh
reaction.
Mohammad's main area of strength is the Bajur
tribal region, which has seen military
operations over the past three years
that army commanders have claimed wiped
out militancy there. Mohammad said any
deal in Bajur could be "role model" for
the rest of the border region. The
United States is unlikely to support
peace moves with militants from the
Pakistani Taliban. Previous deals in the
northwest close to the Afghan border
have been used by the insurgents to rest
and regroup. The Pakistan Taliban are
allied with, and give safe haven to,
militants fighting Western troops across
the frontier in Afghanistan. |
|
venezuela central bank: private
investment down 43 % in 2007-2010
caracas,
venezuela--After
two years of recession, soaring
oil prices have created momentum for the
Venezuelan economy to resume growth.
However, economic imbalances, such as
the collapse of private investments,
represent a major stumbling block. The
Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) reported
that between 2007 and 2010, the private
sector's investment in machines,
equipments, and buildings that are used
to increase production declined 43.6% to
the lowest level in the last seven
years. The BCV has not yet published
specific data on private investment in
2011 and only releases the public
sector's statistics. Nevertheless,
everything suggests that there has been
no change in the mood of the business
sector.
  An example is that total investment in the first nine months,
including public and private investment,
is almost the same as that reported in
the same period last year. Analysts
think that in a business environment
characterized by price controls,
exchange control, control of profits,
and expropriations, logically investment
decisions will be delayed. This has
serious consequences. At this time, the
government encourages consumption and
businesses are increasing sales.
However, when available machines and
equipment are used fully, economic
growth will peak, thus slowing down job
creation.
In a book entitled "La inversión privada y el proceso
de empobrecimiento de Venezuela: ¿Cómo
se ensambló la máquina de fabricar
pobres?" (Private investment and the
process of impoverishment in Venezuela:
How was the machine to manufacture poor
people created?," Miguel Ángel Santos,
an economist and professor at
Caracas-based Institute of Higher
Education in Business Administration (IESA),
assessed the imbalances that the country
has not managed to overcome in three
decades. "The Venezuelan economy, has
not managed to create jobs in the formal
sector in the past 27 years at the
growth rate of the workforce," said
Santos. He explained that failure to
create jobs explains poverty and the
expansion of the informal sector. While
the public debt has grown steadily,
government investment has declined. In
fact, between 2008 and 2010, Venezuela's
US-dollar denominated debt grew by 41%,
while public investment shrank 4%. |
|
bishops call for reconciliation among
cubans
havana, cuba--Cuba’s
Catholic bishops on Thursday
issued a call for rapprochement and
reconciliation among Cubans during the
coming year, in keeping with the 400th
anniversary of the finding of the image
of the Virgin of Caridad del Cobre and a
planned visit by Pope Benedict XVI.
“Reunion and reconciliation among Cubans
should be one fruit of the Jubilee Year
as a result, in each one of us, of a
change in mentality and attitude toward
our neighbor,” the bishops conference
said in a statement.
 
Pope Benedict XVI next spring will visit
Mexico and Cuba on his second trip to
Latin America. The pontiff will come to
the Communist-ruled island as “a pilgrim
of ‘La Caridad’” within the framework of
the 400th anniversary of the discovery
of the image of the country’s patron
saint. The Holy Father will announce the
exact dates of his visit on Monday
during a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on
the occasion of the bicentennials of
several Latin American countries,
bishops conference spokesman Jose Felix
Perez told reporters in Havana. Also
scheduled to be present at that Mass
will be Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Cuba’s
Catholic primate, the spokesman said.
So far, only scanty details about the papal visit are known,
but according to information imparted by
The Vatican to the Cuban bishops, it
will be “brief.” Also, it is forecast
that one of the central events of the
visit will take place at the Santuario
del Cobre, in the eastern part of the
island, which normally houses the image
of the Virgin of Charity. Since last
year, Church authorities have been
taking the image on a pilgrimage
throughout the country and currently it
is in Havana where that journey will
come to an end at the end of this month
and thereafter image will be returned to
its habitual sanctuary. Benedict XVI’s
trip will be the second by a pope to
Cuba after John Paul II’s historic visit
in 1998. |
|
children among the dead in syria
crackdown
damascus, syria--
Syrian security forces fired on
anti-government demonstrations across
the country on Friday, killing at
least nine people -- including two
children -- as the regime tries to choke
off a 9-month-old uprising, activists
said. Some of the worst violence was
reported in Homs, a city in central
Syria that has emerged as the epicenter
of the revolt against President Bashar
Assad. "The earth was shaking," a Homs
resident told The Associated Press by
telephone, saying explosions and cracks
of gunfire erupted in the early morning.
"Armored personnel carriers drove
through the streets and opened fire
randomly with heavy machine guns."
 
Despite the relentless bloodshed, Assad
has refused to buckle to the pressure to
step down and has shown no signs of
easing his crackdown. The United Nations
estimates more than 4,000 people have
been killed in the military assault on
dissent since March. Two boys, ages 10
and 12, were hit by stray bullets Friday
near government checkpoints in Homs,
according to activists. Rami Abdul-Rahman,
the head of the British-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, said the
10-year-old was shot as he crossed the
street in the Bab Sbaaa neighborhood.
The 12-year-old was struck as he walked
in a crowd exiting a mosque, Abdul-Rahman
said.
Anti-government demonstrations traditionally peak after
Friday's midday prayers, although
witnesses say there appeared to be a
concerted effort to prevent any
gatherings this week. Troops were
deployed heavily and, in many cases,
locked down areas before prayers even
began. Security forces also reportedly
fired on protests in the Damascus
suburbs, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour,
Idlbi province near Turkey and
elsewhere. In the southern town of Daraa,
activists said telephone and Internet
lines were cut. The reports could not be
confirmed because Syria has banned most
foreign journalists and prevented
independent reporting. Accounts from
activists and witnesses, along with
amateur videos posted online, provide
key channels of information. The death
toll was compiled from reports by the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and
an activist coalition called the Local
Coordinating Committees. |
|
former dictator manuel noriega, 'old and
tired,' heads back to panama prison
panama
city, panama--Twenty-two
years after American GIs invaded Panama
and spirited away dictator Manuel
Noriega, the former strongman
will return on Sunday to a jail cell in
his homeland. Jitters over his arrival
rippled through Panama, where Noriega,
now 77 and ailing, still has allies who
fear the secrets that he may reveal.
Noriega spent 20 years in a Miami prison
on drug charges after the 1989 U.S.
invasion of Panama, and then was sent to
France on charges he had laundered $3
million for the Medellin cocaine cartel.
France has cleared Noriega's return for
Sunday. Noriega faces at least two
20-year jail terms in Panama for the
disappearance of political opponents
during his 1983-1989 rule. But his
future remains uncertain. Panama allows
convicts who are 70 years and older to
serve their sentences under house
arrest.
 
Guarded by Panamanian custodians,
Noriega will arrive on a commercial
flight at 5:30 p.m. local time Sunday,
and then be transferred to El Renacer
prison by helicopter, Justice Minister
Roxana Mendez said. Mendez added that he
would not be given a special cell. His
presence may rattle the victims of his
often-thuggish rule, his political foes
and his onetime collaborators in the
Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD.
Largely barred from making public
statements during more than two decades
of incarceration, the stocky onetime
military intelligence chief apparently
desires to speak out upon his return.
"He said as much in his hearing (in
France), that he is coming to Panama to
proclaim his innocence," his lawyer,
Julio Berrio, told reporters in Panama.
"The people who are probably the most
nervous are in fact in the PRD, his
political party," said Orlando J. Perez,
a political scientist at Central
Michigan University, who spoke while
traveling in Panama. "In the last 21
years, they've made a very concerted
effort to distance themselves from the
Noriega regime and militarism."
Some politicians, including President Ricardo
Martinelli, may benefit from anything
Noriega might say about his onetime
collaborators. In late November, in
remarks to a Panamanian television
station, Martinelli said: "We are going
to learn about many fortunes that were
made illegally in this country."
Opponents of Noriega planned to march
Friday in Panama City to repudiate the
onetime dictator and oppose any house
arrest. They planned to gather on 50th
Street, where anti-riot troops from the
feared Dignity Battalions beat and
arrested them before Noriega's ouster.
Noriega's rule came to an end on Dec.
20, 1989, when President George H.W.
Bush ordered Operation Just Cause, an
invasion of more than 25,000 soldiers,
to restore democracy, secure the Panama
Canal and combat narcotics trafficking. |
|
putin STRONGLY CRITICIZED clinton of
"encouraging" russian protesters
MOSCOW, RUSSIA--
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin strongly
criticized U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton on
Thursday for encouraging and supporting
Russians protesting election fraud, and
warned of a wider Russian crackdown on
dissent. By describing Russia's
parliamentary election as rigged, Putin
said Clinton "gave a signal" to his
opponents. "They heard this signal and
with the support of the U.S. State
Department began their active work,"
Putin said in televised remarks. Clinton
has repeatedly criticized Sunday's
parliamentary vote in Russia, saying
"Russian voters deserve a full
investigation of electoral fraud and
manipulation." Russian protesters have
taken to the streets in Moscow and St.
Petersburg for three straight nights
despite a heavy police presence,
outraged over observers' reports of
widespread ballot box stuffing and
manipulations of the vote count.
 
This week has seen some of the biggest
and most sustained protests Russia has
faced in years, and police have detained
hundreds of protesters. Thousands were
expected to join protests in Moscow and
other cities on Saturday. Putin's United
Russia party barely held onto its
majority in parliament, with official
results giving it about 50 percent of
the vote, down from 64 percent four
years ago. But the fraud allegations
indicate that support for United Russia
was even lower than that, and Russians
appear to be growing weary of Putin and
his party after nearly 12 years in
office. Moscow has already put about
50,000 police and 2,000 paramilitary
troops on the streets, backed by water
cannon. Putin warned that the government
might take an even harder line. "We need
to think about strengthening the law and
holding more responsible those who carry
out the task of a foreign government to
influence our internal political
process," he said.
Russia's only independent election monitoring group,
which is supported by grants from the
United States and European governments,
has come under heavy official pressure
in recent weeks. The Golos website
documenting violations was hacked and
the group was fined the equivalent of
$1,000 after prosecutors accused it of
violating election law. Opposition
groups have called for a mass protest
near the Kremlin on Saturday. More than
26,000 people have signed up to a
Facebook page on the protest. A map
circulating on the Internet shows
protests planned for Saturday in more
than 75 cities around Russia, while a
page on LiveJournal lists more planned
anti-vote fraud protests in 15 countries
around the world. |
|
IRANIAN TV AIRS FOOTAGE PURPORTING TO
SHOW DOWNED U.S. DRONE
TEHRAN, IRAN--U.S.
officials confirmed that the aircraft
SHOWN ON IRANIAN TIV was part of a fleet
used for spying on Iran. The
RQ-170 unmanned craft, known as a
Sentinel, has no self-destruct
mechanism, however a U.S. official said
that it "probably doesn't tell Tehran
much that it didn't already know,"
according to the Associated Press. The
chief of the aerospace division of
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards,
Gen.
 
Ami Ali Hajizadeh, said Iranian forces
brought the aircraft down with an
electronic ambush, causing minimum
damage to the drone. "It was downed
through a joint operation by the Guards
and Iran's regular army," he told state
television. Iranian state radio has said
the unmanned aircraft was detected over
the eastern town of Kashmar, some 140
miles (225 kilometers) from the border
with Afghanistan. Tehran appeared to be
using the footage of the purported drone
to score propaganda points, and a banner
at the foot of the aircraft in the video
read "The U.S. cannot do a damn thing" –
a quotation by the Iran's late supreme
leader, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini.
However, U.S. officials say that there is "absolutely no
indication" that Iran shot down the
aircraft, maintaining that the operators
lost control. Iran confirmed for the
first time in 2005 that the U.S. has
been flying surveillance drones over its
airspace to spy on its military and
nuclear facilities. The U.S. and its
allies suspect Iran is trying to develop
nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity to discuss classified
information, have said the drone and
other stealth craft like it have spied
on Iran for years from a U.S. air base
in Afghanistan. |
|
SYRIAN OIL PIPELINE ATTACKED IN RESTIVE
HOMS PROVINCE
DAMASCUS,
SYRIA--A
major pipeline carrying oil to a
refinery in Syria's restive Homs
province has been attacked,
activists and the state news agency Sana
said. It was not clear who was behind
the attack, which caused no casualties
but triggered a plume of black smoke.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said the pipeline was
"bombed", while Sana blamed "an armed
terrorist group" for sabotaging it.
 
The agency said the attack happened at
Tal al-Shor, west of the troubled city.
The Local Co-ordination Committees,
which organise protests against
President Bashar al-Assad's regime,
accused his government of deliberately
destroying the pipeline, which serves a
region opposed to his rule. The province
has been besieged by security forces and
loyalist militias for more than two
months. The United Nations estimates
more than 4,000 people have been killed
since mid-March in the regime's
crackdown on dissent.
Damascus blames the unrest on "armed terrorist groups" and
foreign meddling. Seven civilians were
killed during several security raids in
Homs on Thursday, according to activists
quoted by AFP news agency. There have
been two recent reported attacks on
pipelines in Syria - one, according to
activists, took place on 13 July in the
eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Another,
also near Homs, was reported on 29 July
by Sana. Syria's oil output has slumped
to 120,000 barrels per day from 340,000
before the unrest due to narrowing
exports in line with sanctions against
President Assad's regime, according to
an industry expert. |
|
the HILTON HOTEL of trinidad and tobago
denied accommodation to cuban dictator
raul castro
port of spain,
trinidad aND TOBAGO---US-BASED
hotel chain Hilton Worldwide has
been denied a special licence from the
US Government to allow for the IV
Caricom/Cuba Summit to be held at the
Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre
with visiting Cuban President Raul
Castro. The two-day summit, which
starts today, will instead be held at
the National Academy for the Performing
Arts (NAPA) in Port of Spain. Castro,
who arrives in Trinidad and Tobago this
morning and leaves on Friday, will be
staying at the Kapok Hotel, St Clair,
though according to officials at the
Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Cuban
Embassy, this was his original
accommodation. Asked yesterday whether
Hilton Trinidad had declined Castro
accommodation, Foreign Affairs Minister
Dr Suruj Rambachan said he did not know
anything about that.
 
Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre
general manager Ali Khan last night
said: "While we have worked with the
appropriate governmental agencies in the
US and Trinidad and Tobago to secure a
licence, we have been informed that one
will not be granted." According to the
US Treasury website, OFAC "administers
and enforces US economic and trade
sanctions against targeted foreign
countries". Hilton Worldwide advised in
its letter that further questions should
be posed to the US Embassy in Trinidad
and Tobago. Attempts to contact
officials at the US Embassy in Trinidad
last night via telephone were
unsuccessful.
A media release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
dated December 1, 2011, stated that the
summit would be held at the Hilton
Trinidad and Conference Centre; but in a
follow-up release on December 6, it
stated the summit would be held "in Port
of Spain". A release from Government
Information Services Ltd, dated December
5, stated that the summit would be held
at NAPA between today and tomorrow. At
the 2008 Caricom/Cuba Summit in Cuba, 14
Caribbean heads of state called on US
President Barack Obama to remove the
decades-old trade embargo between the US
and Cuba. The first Caricom-Cuba
Summit was held in Havana, Cuba, on
December 8, 2002, and the Havana
Declaration was adopted on the 30th
anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Cuba and
the four Caricom countries that were
independent at that time—Barbados,
Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
It was also decided to commemorate
December 8 each year as Cuba-Caricom
Day, and to establish a summit every
three years on that date. |
|
SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON CITES
SERIOUS CONCERNS IN RUSSIA VOTING
BONN, GERMANY--U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton said Monday the U.S. has
"'serious concerns" about the conduct of
Russia's parliamentary elections. Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin's party saw its
majority in Russia's parliament weaken
sharply, according to preliminary
election results released Monday.
 
Some opposition politicians and election
monitors said that even a result of
around 50 percent for Putin's United
Russia party was inflated because of
vote fraud. Their claims were backed by
international observers, as Clinton
noted during remarks in Bonn, Germany.
She said her opinion matters less than
that of Russian voters, whom she says
deserve the right to know their votes
were fairly cast and counted. Clinton
said that international monitors have
raised questions about possible
ballot-stuffing and manipulation of
voter lists "and other troubling
practices."
She said Washington is also concerned that
internal Russian election monitors were
harassed, including by cyber attacks on
their web sites. "Russian voters deserve
a full investigation of all credible
reports of electoral fraud and
manipulation and we hope in particular
that then Russian authorities will take
action" on reports that come forward,
Clinton said. She said "the Russian
people, like people everywhere, deserve
the right to have their voices heard and
their votes counted. That means they
deserve free, fair, transparent
elections and leaders who are
accountable to them." She travels next
to Lithuania for a meeting of the
Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, which monitors
election fraud. |
|
FORMER PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV CALLS
FOR A NEW VOTE IN RUSSIA
MOSCOW,
RUSSIA--Russian
authorities should annul the
parliamentary vote results and hold a
new election, ex-Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev urged Wednesday as
popular indignation grew over widespread
reports of alleged election fraud.
Thousands of Russians have rallied in
Moscow and St. Petersburg in the last
two days, facing off against tens of
thousands of police and Interior
Ministry troops. Hundreds of protesters
have been detained in both cities.
Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency
that authorities must hold a fresh
election or deal with a rising tide of
discontent.
 
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United
Russia party won less than 50 percent of
Sunday's vote, a steep fall from its
earlier two-thirds majority, according
to preliminary results. But opposition
parties and international observers said
the vote was marred by vote-rigging,
including alleged ballot-box stuffing
and false voter rolls. "More and more
people are starting to believe that the
election results are not fair," he told
Interfax. "I believe that ignoring
public opinion discredits the
authorities and destabilizes the
situation. Gorbachev added that
authorities "must admit that there have
been numerous falsifications and ballot
stuffing." Sunday's parliamentary vote
suggested Russians are tiring of Putin
and his United Russia party, which has
dominated all other political forces in
Russia for the past dozen years and
earned a reputation for corruption.
 
Putin, meanwhile, officially registered
Wednesday to run for the presidency in
March, but the unusually sustained
protests of the past two days suggested
his drive to retake the job he held from
2000-2008 may not go as smoothly as he
had expected. More opposition rallies
were expected Wednesday, along with
another new pro-Putin gathering in
central Moscow. Thousands of security
forces were out in the Russian capital
and helicopters roamed the sky
Wednesday, a show of force following two
days of protest. Authorities said
Tuesday at least 51,500 police officers
and 2,000 Interior Ministry troops have
been deployed in Moscow since the
election. Unlike the police, Interior
Ministry troops are an armed force,
largely manned by conscripts. |
|
CUBAN OPPOSITION DENOUNCES MORE THAN 250
POLITICAL ARRESTS IN NOVEMBER
HAVANA, CUBA--The
Cuban Human Rights and National
Reconciliation Commission opposition
group on Monday said that at
least 257 people were arrested for
political reasons on the Communist-ruled
island last month, most of them for
short periods of time. The figure is
“demonstrative of the terrible situation
for civil and political rights that
continues to prevail in Cuba,” the
commission, which is outlawed but
tolerated, said in a report.
 
Commission spokesman Elizardo Sanchez
told Efe that during the first five days
of December “at least 100 arrests” have
occurred,” most of them in the eastern
provinces of Santiago de Cuba and
Guantanamo. Still in custody on Monday
were 21 of the 52 dissidents who were
arrested last Friday for trying to stage
a peaceful march in the town of Palma
Soriano, in Santiago de Cuba province,
Sanchez said. “At this rate of
repression, in December (the number of
arrests) is going to be greater than in
November,” he said, adding that the
situation was linked with Saturday’s
celebration of International Human
Rights Day.
As a “positive piece of information,” the commission
report said that so far during 2011 “the
number of (people) imprisoned or
sentenced for political reasons
diminished, relatively speaking,” given
that the Cuban government released “many
prisoners before bringing them to
trial.” He said that currently there are
some 70 prisoners in Cuban jails who
have been convicted or are on trial for
so-called “crimes against the state.”
The Cuban government considers the
dissidents and the internal opposition
to be “counterrevolutionaries and
U.S.-paid “mercenaries.” |
|
DOZENS OF BODIES DUMPED IN SYRIA,
ACTIVISTS SAY
DAMASCUS,
SYRIA--A
surge in violence in the restive Syrian
city of Homs has killed up to 50 people
in the past 24 hours, leaving
dozens of bodies in the streets,
activists said Tuesday. The
British-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights quoted witnesses as saying
34 bodies were dumped in the streets of
Homs on Monday night. Homs-based
activist Mohammed Saleh said there was a
spate of kidnappings and killings in the
city earlier Monday. Homs and other
areas have seen an increasing number of
tit-for-tat attacks pitting majority
Sunnis against members of President
Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect,
fearsome violence that evokes the
seething conflicts that have bedeviled
neighboring Iraq and Lebanon. "It was
an insane escalation," Saleh told The
Associated Press by telephone from Homs
after Monday's violence. "There were
kidnappings and killings in a mad way.
People are afraid to go out of their
homes."
 
The activists' reports could not be
independently confirmed. Syria has
banned most foreign journalists and
prevents the work of independent media.
Also Tuesday, Syria said it blocked 35
"armed terrorists" from entering the
country after a clash along the border
with Turkey. The state-run news service
said several of the gunmen were wounded
and the group fled back into Turkish
territory. The head of a growing group
of Syrian army defectors is based in
Turkey. The group is believed to be
smuggling weapons and fighters into the
country through the border. For nearly
nine months, the Syrian government has
been trying to crush an uprising against
President Assad. But there are growing
signs of an armed insurgency and
mounting sectarian tensions that could
push the country toward civil war. Homs
has emerged as the epicenter of the
uprising, and the government has laid
siege to the city for months.
The United States, meanwhile, said it was sending its
ambassador back to Syria in part to
serve as a witness to the violence there
and to meet with opposition figures. A
senior Obama administration official
said Ambassador Robert Ford was due to
return Tuesday. He had been recalled on
Oct. 22 amid the worsening violence. The
official commented on grounds of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the situation. On Monday, Syria said it
would agree to allow Arab League
observers into the country as part of a
plan to end the bloodshed, but placed a
number of conditions, including the
cancellation of deeply embarrassing
economic sanctions by the 22-member
organization. Arab League chief Nabil
Elaraby swiftly rebuffed Damascus'
demands, and the Syrian opposition
accused Assad's regime of wasting time
and trying to trick Arab leaders into
reversing punitive measures against
Damascus. "Any announcements made by the
Syrian regime while the military
crackdown continues has for us zero
credibility," said Bassma Kodmani, a
spokeswoman for the Syrian National
Council, an opposition umbrella group. |
|
NEARLY 60 KILLED IN RARE ATTACKS ON
AFGHAN SHIITES
KABUL,
AFGHANISTAN--A
suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite
worshippers at a mosque in Kabul
on Tuesday, killing at least 55 people
in the deadliest of two attacks on a
Shiite holy day - the first major
sectarian assaults since the fall of the
Taliban a decade ago. Four other Shiites
were killed in the northern city of
Mazar-i-Sharif when a bomb strapped to a
bicycle exploded as a convoy of Afghan
Shiites was driving down the road,
shouting slogans for the festival known
as Ashoura. Health Ministry spokesman
Sakhi Kargar gave the death toll and
said 21 people also were wounded in that
attack. The Kabul bomber blew himself up
in the midst of a crowd of men, women
and children gathered outside the Abul
Fazl shrine to commemorate the seventh
century death of the Prophet Muhammad's
grandson Imam Hussein. Some men were
beating themselves in mourning and food
was being distributed.
 
The shrine, which is near the
presidential palace, was packed with
worshippers and dozens more were crammed
into the courtyard. One witness said the
bomber was at the end of a line and
detonated his explosives near one of the
gates to the shrine. Bodies of the dead
lay on top of one another where they
fell to their deaths. Survivors with
blood-smeared faces cried amid the
chaos. The Ministry of Interior said 55
were killed - including two women and
four children. Sayed Kabir Amiri, who is
in charge of Kabul hospitals said more
than 160 wounded in the blast. That made
it the single deadliest attack in the
Afghan capital in more than three years.
A suicide car bomber detonated his
explosives at the gates of the Indian
Embassy in Kabul on July 7, 2008,
killing more than 60 people.
Religiously motivated attacks on Shiites are rare in
Afghanistan although they are common in
neighboring Pakistan. No group claimed
responsibility for Tuesday's blasts,
reminiscent of the wave of sectarian
attacks that shook Iraq during the
height of the war there. The Ministry of
Interior in a statement blamed the
Taliban and "terrorists," for the
attack. It provided no other details but
added that police defused another bomb
that had been planted in Mazar-i-Sharif
near the one that blew up. The Taliban
strongly condemned the two attacks and
said in a statement to news
organizations that they deeply regretted
that innocent Afghans were killed and
wounded. Afghan President Hamid Karzai,
speaking at a news conference after
meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel
in Berlin, said the attack was
unprecedented in scope and the first
time ever that one has been carried out
during a religious event. He said it
was "the first time that on such an
important religious day in Afghanistan
terrorism of that horrible nature is
taking place." |
|
ALAN GROSS' MOTHER ASKS DICTATOR RAUL
CASTRO TO RELEASE HER KIDNAPPED SON
WASHINGTON,
D.C.-The
89-year-old mother of Alan Gross,
the Maryland man who is serving 15 years
in a Cuban prison after taking
cellphones, laptop computers and
satellite equipment into the communist
nation, released a video statement
Thursday appealing to President Raúl
Castro for his release. "I'm going to be
90 in April, and that means maybe I have
time, maybe I don't," Evelyn Gross says.
"But I have lung cancer in both lungs,
and it stands to reason I'm not going to
be here for any length of time, so I
want to see my son; I want to see him to
come home so he can be with us."
 
Alan Gross, who grew up in the Baltimore
area and lived in Potomac, was trying to
help Cuba's small Jewish community set
up an intranet and gain better access to
the Internet as a subcontractor to the
U.S. Agency for International
Development. Saturday marks the second
anniversary of his arrest, during his
fifth visit to the Caribbean island
nation. Evelyn Gross appealed to Castro
as a fellow parent. "If you had a child
that was away in a foreign country and
not being able to be with you for this
length of time, I'm sure you wouldn't be
happy about that either," she said. Also
Thursday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Sen.
Benjamin L. Cardin sent bipartisan
letters to Cuba's top diplomat in
Washington calling for his release. Van
Hollen's letter was co-signed by 72
House members, including fellow
Marylanders Steny H. Hoyer, C.A. Dutch
Ruppersberger and John Sarbanes.
Cardin's was co-signed by 18 senators,
including Barbara A. Mikulski.
"Mr. Gross's continued incarceration is viewed by
all Members of Congress, regardless of
their political views on Cuba, as a
major setback in bilateral relations,"
read the letters to Jorge Bolanos, chief
of mission at the Cuban Interests
Section. "It is unlikely that any
further positive steps can or will be
taken by the Obama Administration or
this Congress as long as Mr. Gross
remains in a Cuban jail." Gross's family
is working to raise the profile of his
case to put pressure on U.S. and Cuban
officials to resolve it. His wife, Judy,
appeared at a vigil outside the Cuban
Interests Section in Washington on
Monday. "We really are pushing for
people to know him," Judy Gross said
this week. "For his case to be known,
and for people in the country to know
that he's sitting in that jail
languishing away." |
|
SYRIA SAYS IT ACCEPTS ARAB LEAGUE PEACE
PLAN
DAMASCUS,
SYRIA--Syria
has "responded positively" to the last
Arab League request to send observers to
the country as part of a peace plan to
end the nation's eight-month crisis,
the Foreign Ministry said Monday. But
there appeared to be serious stumbling
blocks. Syria demanded that the Arab
League scrapping recent decisions taken
against Damascus, including economic
sanctions and suspending the country
from the Arab League when the protocal
is signed. "We are waiting for the Arab
League's response and that all decisions
taken by the League in Syria's absence
be annulled," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Jihad Makdissi told reporters in
Damascus. Syria's top diplomat, Walid
al-Moallem, "responded positively" to
the League and sent a letter to the
organization's chief Nabil Elaraby on
Sunday night, Makdissi said. He said al-Moallem's
message combined some "minor amendments
that won't affect the essence of the
plan."
 
There was no immediate reaction from the
Arab League, although Elaraby was
discussing the letter with aides. Syrian
President Bashar Assad is under mounting
international pressure to end his
regime's crackdown on an eight-month
uprising that the U.N. says has killed
more than 4,000 people. Syria's failure
to meet a Nov. 25 deadline to allow in
observers drew Arab League sanctions,
including a ban on dealings with the
country's central bank and a freeze on
government assets. The bloc also imposed
a travel ban on 19 Syrian officials,
including Assad's younger brother Maher,
who is believed to be in command of much
of the crackdown, as well as Cabinet
ministers, intelligence chiefs and
security officers. The list does not
include the president himself.
Together with sanctions from the United States, the
European Union and Turkey, the Arab
League's penalties are expected to
inflict significant damage on Syria's
economy and may undercut the regime's
authority. Damascus remains defiant,
however, and has shown few signs of
easing its campaign against dissent.
Activists said security forces killed at
least seven people Monday, most of them
in the restive central province of Homs.
Over the weekend, the military conducted
exercises meant to test "the
capabilities and the readiness of
missile systems to respond to any
possible aggression," state-run TV said.
The drill showed Syrian missiles and
troops were "ready to defend the nation
and deter anyone who dares to endanger
its security" and that the missiles hit
their test targets with precision, State
TV said. In October, Assad warned the
Middle East "will burn" if the West
intervenes in Syria and threatened to
turn the region into "tens of
Afghanistans." |
|
GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS INVADE NUCLEAR
PLANT SITE IN FRANCE
PARIS,
FRANCE--Greenpeace
activists secretly invaded a French
nuclear site before dawn Monday and
draped a banner on its reactor
containment building,
embarrassing the government and exposing
the vulnerability of atomic sites in
France. Police, whom Greenpeace told
immediately of the publicity stunt, took
several hours to round up nine intruders
who had broken into the power plant in
Nogent-sur-Seine, about 95 kilometers
southeast of Paris. France, which gets
about three-quarters of its electricity
from nuclear power, regularly faces
protests from environmental activists
over shipments of nuclear waste.
Activist incursions into atomic plants
are unusual.
 
Greenpeace said the break-in aimed to
show that an ongoing review of safety
measures -- ordered by French
authorities after a tsunami ravaged
Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant
earlier this year -- was focused too
narrowly on possible natural disasters,
and not human factors. Activists who
tried to enter three other French
nuclear sites in the coordinated action
Monday were prevented from doing so, but
Greenpeace said other invaders were
still holed up inside other,
unspecified, nuclear sites. That
prompted authorities to immediately
launch a "thorough sweep" of all of
France's 20 nuclear power plants,
Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry
Brandet said by phone. Interior Minister
Claude Gueant has scheduled a meeting
this week to launch a review of the
security breach, Brandet said.
French power company Electricite de France, which
operates the site, denounced the
"illegal" break-in at Nogent-sur-Seine,
and insisted that it did not harm
security at the site. After Greenpeace
alerted authorities that its activists
were behind the incursion, police and
security teams held their fire and
allowed the peaceful activists to
continue scaling a containment building
that houses the reactor to put a banner
on top, Brandet said. The activists
didn't penetrate the reactor. EDF said
activists' banners were also hung on the
outside of two other nuclear sites --
Chinon in northwestern France and
Blayais in the southwest -- before they
were removed. Three other activists were
driven off by security forces while
trying to enter yet another plant, in
southeastern Cadarache. "We have to
understand what's behind this
malfunction -- notably in Nogent,"
Brandet said, adding that "in the other
sites security worked ... the intrusions
were thwarted." EDF said it had no
indication of intrusions at other sites
in France. |
|
IRAN SAYS IT SHOT DOWN UNMANNED US SPY
PLANE
TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran's
armed forces have shot down an unmanned
U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian
airspace along the country's eastern
border, the official IRNA news
agency reported Sunday. An unidentified
military official quoted in the report
warned of a strong and crushing response
to any violations of the country's
airspace by American drone aircraft. "An
advanced RQ-170 unmanned American spy
plane was shot down by Iran's armed
forces. It suffered minor damage and is
now in possession of Iran's armed
forces," IRNA quoted the official as
saying. No further details were
published.
 
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan
said in a statement the aircraft may be
an American drone that its operators
lost contact with last week while it was
flying a mission over neighboring
western Afghanistan. A U.S. official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the classified nature of the
incident, said the U.S. HAD "absolutely
no indication" that the drone was shot
down. The type of aircraft Iran says it
downed, an RQ-170 Sentinel, is made by
Lockheed Martin and was reportedly used
to keep watch on Osama bin Laden's
compound in Pakistan as the raid that
killed him was taking place earlier this
year. The surveillance aircraft is
equipped with stealth technology, but
the U.S. Air Force has not made public
any specifics about the drone.
Iran said in January that two pilotless spy planes it had
shot down over its airspace were
operated by the United States and
offered to put them on public display.
In July, Iranian military officials
showed Russian experts several U.S.
drones they said were shot down in
recent years. Also in July, Iranian
lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said
Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down an
unmanned U.S. spy plane that was trying
to gather information on an underground
uranium enrichment site. Dafsari said
the pilotless plane was flying over the
Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom
in central Iran but the Guard denied the
report, saying its air defenses had only
hit a test target. Iran publicly
confirmed for the first time in Feb.
2005 that the United States has been
flying surveillance drones over its
airspace to spy on its nuclear and
military facilities. |
|
THE ARAB LEAGUE
ISSUES SYRIA ANOTHER DEADLINE (THE
FOURTH)
DOHA, QATAR--The
Arab League gave Syria a new deadline
(THE FOURTH) of Sunday to sign on
to an initiative to allow observers into
the country end a crackdown on
anti-government protesters, Qatar state
media reported. League officials in the
Qatari capital Doha responded to
requests by Damascus for some
clarifications to the plan, but did not
make any key changes, according to
Qatar's foreign minister. It is now up
to the Syrian regime officials to sign
the paperwork agreeing to end the
violence, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad
bin Jassim Al Thani said. "We are
awaiting an answer from them," he told
the Qatar news agency Saturday.
 
If Syrian officials do not sign on to
the deal, they will face additional
sanctions from the Arab League,
including freezing the assets of several
more top officials, reducing flights in
and out of Syria by 50% and a complete
ban on Arab countries sending weapons to
Syria, a statement from the Arab League
said Ahmed Hamoudi, general coordinator
of the Egypt-based Syrian Revolution
Coordination, expressed skepticism about
whether the sanctions would help end al-Assad's
11-year rule. "The economic sanctions by
the Arab League serve a good purpose of
pressuring the Syrian regime and
weakening it, but I don't think the Arab
League will be able to fulfill the
political ambitions of the Syrians --
and that is to topple the Assad regime,"
Hamoudi said. "We want to see the Syrian
file taken to the U.N. Security Council
and more immediate measures on the
ground, like a no-fly zone and a buffer
zone at the Turkish border."
Syria's
state-run Syrian Arab News Agency
reported Sunday that the nation would
survive the sanctions. "Although they
will affect the livelihood of Syrian
citizens, Syria will overcome those
sanctions by virtue of its strategic
location and the diversity of its
production sectors," the news agency
said. Syrian officials agreed Sunday to
end a free-trade agreement with Turkey
and impose a tariff on Turkish goods
imported into Syria in retaliation for
sanctions the neighboring nation has
imposed. Last month, the Arab League
issued a deadline for Syria to agree to
allow league observers into the country
to monitor response to civil unrest --
or face economic sanctions. Damascus
failed to respond to the deadline, which
led finance ministers from Arab League
countries to recommend economic
sanctions. Economic sanctions imposed
last month include cutting ties with
Syria's central bank, banning
high-profile Syrian officials from
visiting Arab nations and freezing the
assets of the Syrian government,
according to a senior league official
who asked not to be named because he was
not authorized to speak to the media. |
|
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT SANTOS RULES OUT
ASKING FOR CELAC'S HELP IN TALKS WITH
REBELS
FORT TIUNA,
venezuela--President
of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos
said Saturday in Venezuela that he will
hold talks with the guerrillas in his
country when he is certain that they
really want peace because, he said,
Colombians have been deceived in the
past.
 
The rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation
Army (ELN) requested the mediation of
the Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (Celac) in separate
statements and videos released shortly
before the summit of the new regional
integration body that ended Saturday in
Caracas, Efe quoted. Santos said in the
last session of Celac summit that many
of his colleagues asked about the
proposals put forward by the guerrillas.
The rebels asked Celac to serve as a
mediator in peace talks in Colombia.
"For now, the best way to help is to do nothing," but we will
hold talks when the government of
Colombia "and the 46 million Colombians
weary of violence" see a gesture of
"goodwill" from guerrillas to negotiate
peace, Santos noted. "Violence leads to
nowhere," Santos said amidst the
applause of his fellow Latin American
and Caribbean presidents, when he
insisted that he is willing to negotiate
with the insurgents, but first he needs
to see the rebels sending a signal that
they are willing to achieve peace.
|
|
FRANCE REDUCING EMBASSY STAFF IN TEHRAN
PARIS, FRANCE--The
diplomatic fallout over this week's
attack on Britain's Embassy in Iran
deepened Saturday as France
temporarily reduced its embassy staff
and Italy's ambassador Iran was summoned
home. A French Foreign Ministry
spokesman said the reduction is for
"security reasons." "Some of their
diplomatic staff and their families will
leave Iran and return to France," said
the spokesman, who did not want to be
named because he is not authorized to
speak to the media. He couldn't say how
many people are leaving, when they are
departing and for how long. Italian
Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi received
Italy's envoy to Tehran in Rome after he
was recalled for consultations, said
Italian Foreign Affairs spokesman
Maurizio Massari. The ambassador,
Alberto Bradanini, will not return to
Tehran until Italy has received
assurances on the protection of its
diplomatic mission.
 
"There has been no decision to close the
embassy," Massari said. "We have
received some assurances from the
Iranian ambassador to Rome, but we would
like to get more full guarantees of the
security and protection of our
diplomatic mission according to
international law before sending our
ambassador back to Tehran." The
spokesman went on to say that Italian
officials are "staying in close contact
with our European partners and allies."
Meanwhile, 25 Iranian diplomats and
embassy employees arrived in Tehran
Saturday morning after Iran was ordered
to close its embassy in London,
according to the Islamic Republic News
Agency, the country's official news
agency. The group was greeted by a crowd
of university students at Tehran's
Mehrabad airport, the agency reported.
Relations between the nations have been strained in
recent days after the United Kingdom
levied new sanctions against Iran. The
sanctions were announced in late
November and mandated that British
credit and financial institutions end
their business relationships and
transactions with all Iranian banks,
their branches and subsidiaries. The
move came after an International Atomic
Energy Agency report highlighted new
concerns about Iran's allege moves
towards producing a nuclear weapon. The
sanctions prompted protests in Iran and
the attack on the British embassy in
Tehran on Tuesday. British authorities
responded on Wednesday, by closing
Iran's embassy in London and ordering
Iranian diplomats to leave the country. |
|
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT SANTOS RAISES ISSUE
OF DRUG TRAFFICKING AT CELAC SUMMIT
FORT TIUNA,
CARACAS--The
president of Colombia, Juan Manuel
Santos, said that through hard
efforts his country has managed to cut
by 60% the acreage of drugs and has
dismantled big drug cartels. He
acknowledged, however, that drug
trafficking still exists, as big cartels
have been uprooted, but "small cartels"
are now operating Santos urged his Latin
American and Caribbean counterparts to
make the right moves and take advantage
of the region’s potential.
 
Santos said that Colombia is the country
of the region that has been hardest hit
by drug traffickers and guerrillas. He
noted that that through hard efforts his
country has managed to cut by 60% the
acreage of drugs and dismantle big drug
cartels. He acknowledged, however, that
drug trafficking still exists, as big
cartels have been uprooted, but "small
cartels" are now operating. In this
regard, he highlighted the efforts made
in Mexico by Felipe Calderón's
government. And he recognized that the
"successes" achieved by Colombia in the
war on drugs have led many groups to
move their business to other countries
in the region such as Mexico, and also
to Central America.
Further, Santos urged his Latin American and Caribbean
counterparts to make the right moves and
take advantage of the region's
potential. On the other hand, Santos
used his speech to request the countries
attending the Celac Summit to support
Vice-President of Colombia Angelino
Garzón's run for the presidency of the
International Labour Organization (ILO).
For now, he gained support from
Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,
Cuba, and Ecuador. |
|
VENEZUELAN CENTRAL BANK: REPATRIATION OF
GOLD IS NOT RELATED TO CHINESE FUND
CAracas,
venezuela--Nelson
Merentes, the president of the Central
Bank of Venezuela (BCV), said
Monday that the decision to nationalize
gold is not intended to provide
collateral for loans granted to
Venezuela by China through the Chinese
Fund. "A mindset has been created that
(the repatriation of overseas gold
holdings) is due to (credit) relations
with China. This is not true, the
(repatriated) gold will continue to be
(Venezuela's international) reserves,
like the gold bars that were already in
Venezuela (157 tons). The gold has the
same value and will be safe," he said.
 
Although Merentes insisted that
Venezuela did not repatriate gold
reserves as collateral for international
loans, he admitted that foreign currency
reserves are generally used as
collateral in these cases, and to
support the payment of imports.
"Generally speaking, Venezuela and Latin
America do not have convertible money.
There are no more than 10 convertible
currencies in the world. Therefore, some
countries must keep assets are
convertible at international level in
order to pay for imports." Additionally,
"if the country has loans with
international organizations,
international reserves are part of the
collateral, in case of payment
difficulties. (International) reserves
are also a global measurement of how the
economy of a country is being handled,"
he said. Merentes explained that one of
the reasons why gold has been
repatriated is the "turmoil" hitting the
world's capital markets and economy,
particularly the US and European
economies. When this occurs, it is
better to "seek a shelter," he said.
The BCV president added that in the case of
Venezuela one of the most important
reasons is that the nationalization of
this asset "will be more valuable,
because we produce gold." The
Venezuelan financial official noted in
an interview with state-run TV channel
Venezolana de Televisión that gold has a
substantial financial value. Merentes
reported that a total of 218 tons of
Venezuelan overseas gold holdings will
be repatriated. About 200 tons remain to
be transferred, he added. The transfer
of gold reserves to Venezuela will cost
USD 7 million rather than USD 700
million, as reported by some media, the
BCV president stressed. |
|
PRESIDENTS, HEADS OF STATES AND
DICTATORS ARRIVED IN CARACAS TO
PARTICIPATE IN A CELAC SUMMIT
FORT TIUNA,
VENEZUELA--DICTATOR
Raúl
Castro heads Cuban delegation to CELAC
Summit. The Latin American
leaders envisage CELAC
as a forum with no bureaucratic burden.
The Cuban delegation also
includes
Vice-President Ricardo Cabrisas, Foreign
Minister Bruno Rodríguez and the
Minister of Foreign Trade and
Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca. "This
Summit will officially create the
Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (CELAC),
the institutional event with the
greatest importance in our hemisphere
during the last century," reads the text
published by the official Cuban
newspaper Granma.
 
The authorities of
Cuba, which will host the Celac Summit
in 2013, said that the creation of the
new organization "will be an important
milestone in the history" of the world,
which will have to overcome "obstacles
and tricks," reported on Sunday
state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde. CELAC
"will be the first hemispheric
organization" without the participation
of the United States and Canada," the
newspaper said. Latin America and
Caribbean Presidents and Heads of States
continue to arrive in Venezuela to
attend the Summit to formally
establish the
Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (CELAC).
The presidents and Heads of State of
Paraguay, Suriname, Barbados and Jamaica
expressed their enthusiasm for the
integration initiative. "The dream of
our national independence heroes is
gradually becoming true, after 200
years," with the creation of the
Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (CELAC),
said on Friday Paraguay's President,
Fernando Lugo Méndez, upon his arrival
at Simón Bolívar International Airport,
in Maiquetía, coastal Vargas state.
Meanwhile, the President of Suriname,
Desiré Delano Bouterse, said that the
creation of this community is an
historic event. "It is the occasion to
complete the union of our peoples of
Latin America and the Caribbean," she
said. |
|
FOR WASHINGTON, THE OAS IS "PREEMINENT"
IN HEMISPHERIC MATTERS
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--The
US government on Friday
reiterated that the Organization of
American States (OAS) is the
"preeminent" body to address the issues
of the countries in the Americas. During
his usual daily briefing, State
Department Spokesman Mark Toner avoided
commenting directly on the validity of
the Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (CELAC),
which will be launched on December 2-3
at a presidential summit in the
Venezuelan capital. "There are many
sub-regional organizations in the
hemisphere; we belong to some of them,
and we do not belong to others, like
this," said Toner, Efe reported.
 
"Obviously we
continue working through the OAS, as the
preeminent multilateral organization
that speaks for the hemisphere," said
Toner, without elaborating. On Thursday,
the OAS welcomed the Celac, a new
hemispheric body excluding the US and
Canada. The CELAC,
promoted by the president of Venezuela,
Hugo Chávez, has emerged as a purely
Latin American and Caribbean
organization, without the US and Canada.
CELAC is the
heir of the Rio Group and the Summit of
Latin American and the Caribbean on
Integration and Development (CLAC).
However,
Nicaragua's
President Daniel Ortega who
arrived on Friday
in Venezuela to participate in the
founding Summit of the CELAC
told official media
before travelling to Venezuela, that the
"Monroe Doctrine is being buried" thanks
to the creation of CELAC.
The Monroe Doctrine was "America for the
Americans," and was "proclaimed on
December 2, 1823," Ortega said. "The US
empire claimed the exclusivity of the
colonization of the peoples of Latin
America and the Caribbean," he added.
Ortega added that the regional meeting,
will strengthen the Central American
Integration System (SICA), the Union of
South American Nations (Unasur), the
Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
Our America (ALBA). |
|
THE 33 MEMBERS OF CELAC DIVIDED BY
DIFFERENCES ON KEY ISSUES
FORT TIUNA,
venezuela--The
33 member countries of the Community of
Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
are still discussing the possibility to
use consensus for decision making in its
first year, and they will approve a
democratic clause similar to the
provision adopted by the Ibero-American
Summit.
 
In a region with
several integration organizations,
trading blocs and institutions, such as
the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the
Central American Integration System (SICA),
the Organization of American States
(OAS), and the Bolivarian Alliance for
the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), it is
very difficult to reach consensus.
Ecuador submitted a proposal to use
qualified majority for decision making
in Celac rather than consensus, a
mechanism that has allowed President
Hugo Chávez to prevent initiatives
contrary to his interests in some
international forums. So far, sources
said that Celac will not have a
Constitutive Treaty, that is, it will be
a "forum" and, therefore, it will not be
a legal person.
The first issue to
be resolved will be the goal of the new
community: either a political
institution or an economic forum, or
both. For Ecuador and Bolivia, CELAC
will be the final blow to the
Organization of American States. On the
contrary, Colombia believes that it is a
way to boost regional economy in the
world. Another issue during the
preparatory meeting was the approval of
a "democratic clause." The delegations
finally decided to make a "copy-paste"
of the provision already agreed under
the Ibero-American Summit held in
December 2010. |
|
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: 'NO ALLY IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN ISRAEL'
MANHATTAN,
NEW YORK--During
an exclusive campaign fundraiser on New
York’s Upper East Side tonight,
President BARACK Obama offered
reassurances to some of his most loyal
Jewish supporters about the
administration’s commitment to Israel.
Speaking about the “enormous tumult” in
the Middle East brought by the Arab
Spring, Obama said the U.S. stands “on
the side of democracy” but remains
unwavering in its support for the
security of its allies. “Obviously, no
ally is more important than the state of
Israel,” Obama said. “This
administration – I try not to pat myself
too much on the back – but this
administration has done more in terms of
the security of the state of Israel than
any previous administration,” he added.
 
“Whether it’s making sure that our
intelligence cooperation is effective,
to making sure that we’re able to
construct something like an iron dome so
that we don’t have missiles raining down
on Tel Aviv, we have been consistent in
insisting that we don’t compromise when
it comes to Israel’s security.” Obama
has taken heat from some members of the
Jewish community for what have been, at
times, frustrated relations with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
for his public calls for statehood
negotiations with Palestinians to start
with the pre-1967 lines. American Jewish
Congress chairman Jack Rosen, who hosted
Obama fundraiser at his private home,
acknowledged the concerns generally in
his introduction of the president. But
Rosen praised the president’s record.
“America’s never been as supportive to
the state of Israel” than since Obama
took office, he said.
Thirty Obama supporters each paid at least $10,000 per
person to attend, said a Democratic
official. Obama also attended two other
fundraisers in New York City tonight. He
mingled over dinner with 45 donors who
forked over $35,800 per person at Gotham
Bar & Grill. Later, he spoke at a
“holiday reception” at the Sheraton to
several hundred supporters who paid
$1,000 apiece. The events brought to 69
the total number of fundraisers attended
by Obama this year. The at-least-$1.8
million he raised tonight benefits the
Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising
account for Obama and Democrats. The
first $5,000 of an individual’s
contribution goes to Obama; the
remainder, up to $30,800, goes to the
DNC. |
|
VENEZUELAN OIL EXPORTS TO THE US DOWN TO
1992 LEVELS
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--Gradual
yet steady decline in Venezuelan oil
sales to the United States has shown no
improvement during 2011. This
evidences that the US has lost ground as
one of Venezuela's main oil clients.
According to a report published by the
US Department of Energy, during the
third quarter of 2011 Venezuelan oil
exports to the United States averaged
814,000 barrels per day. This means a
16.3% decline compared to the third
quarter of 2010, when Venezuelan exports
averaged 969,000 bpd.
 
A comparison between the results
reported in the third quarter of 2011
and historic Venezuelan oil exports
shows that in July, August, and
September 2011 oil exports to the US hit
their lowest level since 1991. Twenty
years ago, Venezuela exported 725,000
barrels per day to the US. As for
accumulated data in 2011, average
Venezuela's oil sales to the US amounted
to 890,000 bpd in January-September,
3.6% lower than the average of 927,000
bpd in January-September 2010.
Venezuela's exports to the United States
fell to their lowest levels since the
first three quarters of 1992. Monthly
oil sales to the US rose to their
highest level in June 2011, when they
peaked to 1.01 million barrels per day.
The lowest average sales were recorded in September, at
759,000 bpd, according to data reported
by the US Department of Energy. While
the United States has lost ground in the
portfolio of clients of state-run oil
company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa),
the state-owned oil holding has to
increase oil shipments under Venezuela's
bilateral agreements with the Chinese
Fund, the cooperation agreements with
Cuba and Argentina, and regional oil
alliances such as Petrocaribe. Unlike
oil exports, the sales of oil byproducts
increased by 5% in the third quarter,
compared to the same period in 2010, and
they averaged 71,000 barrels per day.
|
|
MEXICAN SOLDIERS FOUND A TIJUANA DRUG
TUNNEL THAT LINKED MEXICO TO U.S.
SAN DIEGO,
CALIFORNIA--The
600-metre passage was equipped with a
hydraulic lift, electric rail cars, a
wooden staircase and wood floors
from one end to the other, US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's
Derek Benner told The Associated Press.
The passage was lit and ventilated, and
ICE's head investigator in San Diego
said it is tall and wide enough for
comfortable movement inside. The
discovery yesterday was the latest in a
spate of secret passages found to
smuggle drugs from Mexico. "It is
clearly the most sophisticated, major
tunnel that we have found in the last
five years, perhaps ever," said Lauren
Mack, a spokeswoman for the US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement in
San Diego.
 
Mexican soldiers found the entrance on
the south side of the border at a
Tijuana warehouse after the US opening
was discovered. A photo released by US
authorities shows a hydraulic lift
inside the Tijuana building. Mexican
soldiers guarded the two-story warehouse
near the Tijuana airport as darkness
fell. The white building had a broken
window that was covered with paper and
no exterior sign. The Tijuana warehouse
is on the same block as a federal police
office and sits next to a packaging
company and tortilla distributor. The
discovery comes less than two weeks
after US authorities found a 400m
passage linking warehouses in San Diego
and Tijuana, seizing 17 tons of
marijuana on both sides of the border.
It was equipped with lighting and
ventilation.
As US authorities heighten enforcement on land, tunnels have
emerged as a major tack to smuggle
marijuana. More than 70 have been found
on the border since October 2008,
surpassing the number of discoveries in
the previous six years. Many are
clustered around San Diego, California's
Imperial Valley and Nogales, Arizona.
California is popular because its
clay-like soil is easy to dig with
shovels. In Nogales, smugglers tap into
vast underground drainage canals.
Authorities said they found a drug
tunnel Tuesday in Nogales, running from
a drain in Mexico to a rented house on
the US side. San Diego's Otay Mesa area
has the added draw that there are plenty
of warehouses on both sides of the
border to conceal trucks getting loaded
with drugs. Its streets hum with
semitrailers by day and fall silent on
nights and weekends. |
|
BRITAIN ORDERS IMMEDIATE CLOSURE OF
IRANIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON
LONDON,
ENGLAND--Britain
said on Wednesday it had ordered the
immediate closure of Iran's embassy in
London and had closed its own
embassy in Tehran after it was stormed
by protesters. "The Iranian charge (d'affaires)
in London is being informed now that we
require the immediate closure of the
Iranian embassy in London and that all
Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the
United Kingdom within the next 48
hours," British Foreign Secretary
William Hague told parliament. "We have
now closed the British embassy in
Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all
our staff and as of the last few
minutes, the last of our UK-based staff
have now left Iran," he said. Hague also
announced that Iranian ambassadors had
been summoned in countries across Europe
to receive strong protests over the
storming of the British embassy.
 
Britain, locked in a confrontation with
Iran over its nuclear activities, has
voiced outrage over the ransacking of
its diplomatic premises in Tehran on
Tuesday by hardline students and Basij
militia in revenge for new British and
Western sanctions. "If any country makes
it impossible for us to operate on their
soil they cannot expect to have a
functioning embassy here," Hague said.
"This does not amount to the severing of
diplomatic relations in their entirety.
It is action that reduces our relations
with Iran to the lowest level consistent
with the maintenance of diplomatic
relations," he added. Hague said it was
"fanciful" to think the Iranian
authorities could not have protected the
British embassy, or that the assault
could have taken place without "some
degree of regime consent". He said
European Union foreign ministers would
discuss the embassy attack at a meeting
in Brussels later on Wednesday and on
Thursday.
 
The EU ministers would discuss "further
action which needs to be taken in the
light of Iran's continued pursuit of a
nuclear weapons program," he said.
German media reported on Wednesday that
Germany has recalled its ambassador to
Iran for consultation after the British
diplomatic mission in Tehran was stormed
on Tuesday. Spiegel Online on its
website cited the German Foreign
Ministry as saying Foreign Minister
Guido Westerwelle had decided to recall
the ambassador. Magazine Stern also
reported the ambassador has been called
back to Germany. According to the
website of the German embassy in Tehran,
the current ambassador is Bernd Ebel.
Earlier on Wednesday, a German
government spokesman said that Germany
had not reduced personnel at its embassy
in Tehran. Germany said late on Tuesday
it had summoned Iran's ambassador to
discuss the storming of the British
embassy. |
|
TURKEY IMPOSES ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON
SYRIA
ANKARA,
TURKEY--Turkey
has announced a raft of economic and
financial sanctions on Syria over
its violent crackdown on protesters.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said
President Bashar al-Assad's government
had "come to the end of the road". The
Arab League announced sanctions on
Sunday. It has already suspended Syria
over its failure to implement agreed
proposals it had agreed to. Dubai
earlier suggested that airlines from the
United Arab Emirates would suspend
flights to Syria next week. The UAE's
main airlines are Emirates and Etihad,
and Dubai acts as a transport hub for
the region.
 
The announcement later disappeared from
the Dubai government's Twitter feed. It
is not yet clear when the Arab League's
ban on commercial flights will take
effect. Turkey's sanctions mostly target
the Syrian leadership. The foreign
minister said all those responsible for
violence against civilians, and
businesses close to President Assad,
were banned from travelling to Turkey,
and their assets there would be frozen.
All financial relations with Syrian
state banks are also being stopped. A
ban on arms sales is already in place.
Last week a convoy of Turkish buses was
fired at by Syrian troops, and the
government has warned all Turkish
citizens to avoid travelling there.
Yesterday the foreign minister said Turkey did
not support military action against
Syria but did not rule out the
possibility of a buffer zone on the
border to contain any mass influx of
refugees. Turkey's transport minister
said Ankara was looking at new transit
routes to bypass Syria, should the
situation there worsen. He said Turkey
would open new border gates with Iraq,
to enable trade with Saudi Arabia and
Gulf states to go via Iraq and Jordan
instead of Syria. The Arab League's
decision marks the first time the body
has imposed such punitive measures on
one of its own members. Turkey has
become one of the most outspoken critics
of Syria but it has a dilemma over
sanctions. The government doubts that
they will persuade President Assad to
change course - but they will hurt
Turkish businesses. |
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ALVARO URIBE SAYS THAT DICTATOR
CHAVEZ ADMITTED HE KNEW THAT FARC REBELS
WERE IN VENEZUELA
BOGOTA,
COLOMBIA--Former
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe said
that Venezuela's DICTATOR Hugo Chávez
acknowledged some years ago that
he was aware of the presence of
guerrilla members of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in
Venezuela. Chávez would have told him
that he would not order their capture
because he (Chávez) wanted to "make a
contribution to peace in Colombia."
 
"He even told me that he did not fight
against them because he wanted to make a
contribution to peace in Colombia. I
answered him that as long and they had
shelter in Venezuela, they would cling
to the hope that violent action could
continue in Colombia, and they would
have no interest in peace. On the
contrary, if they lose this sanctuary,
they would be interested in peace. He
answered me 'let me think about it,'"
Uribe posted on his Twitter account, DPA
reported.
Uribe (2002-2010) also said that he gave Chávez the
coordinates of FARC camps that allegedly
were the shelters of FARC troops in
Venezuela. However, Chávez said in
subsequent meetings that he had only
found "traces of camps." The former
Colombian president stated that during a
summit held in Trinidad and Tobago in
2009, Chávez proposed him to capture
Luciano Marín Arango aka "Iván Márquez,"
a member of the Secretariat of the
Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), in a military raid
similar to the one used to capture the
so-called FARC's foreign minister
Rodrigo Granda. |
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